Not going to lie, I have this thing where I'm obsessed with AU's. I just love imagining the characters that I love in different scenarios or environments. And I've kind of realized that multi-chapters aren't necessarily my favorite things to write despite the fact I love reading them (although I'll definitely finish the one I'm writing right now). So I've decided to start a story where every chapter is a different AU prompt or situation that hasn't happened in the show. Hopefully none of them are too out of character, but if they are, oh well. I'm just doing this for fun. Hope you enjoy this, and let me know what you think!
Matt doesn't really expect his kid to become friends with the girl he got into a fight with at school, and he definitely doesn't expect to fall for said girl's mother.
"Listen, I don't know what happened between your son and Maria. But I'd really appreciate it if you could have your son talk to us." Matt Casey really didn't want to be sitting at his son's elementary school, waiting to see if he'd get in trouble for the fight he'd gotten in, but nevertheless here he was. The look Chief gave him when he told him he'd have to duck out for a moment was far from pleased, and he understood. It was the 5th time in the past two months Matt had to come to the school because his son had gotten in some kind of trouble, and Matt was starting to get frustrated too.
"Yeah, I don't know what's gotten into him. I've tried to talk to him but he's just been acting up so much lately I'm sort of at a standstill of what to do."
"Have you and your wife tried talking to him?"
Matt sighed. "Jake's mother isn't around. Look, I'll talk to him and see if I can find out what's going on. Where is this Maria girl's parents though?"
"I've called her in, she said she was on her-" the door swung open, and a woman walked in looking frazzled.
"Hi. I'm so sorry that I'm late I was at work." Matt looked her up and down. He noticed she was wearing a paramedics uniform, and wondered if they'd ever met before. She looked Matt up and down, taking in his appearance before sitting down next to him. "So Maria got in a fight?" She looked over at Matt. "With your child, I'm assuming." Matt nodded.
" Mrs. Jackson-"
"It's uh, it's Dawson actually. Gabriela Dawson." She nodded at the principal.
" Ms. Dawson. This is Matt Casey."
She shook his hand before turning to the principal. "Well, do you know who started the fight?"
"That's the problem, both of your children refuse to talk."
Gabby let out a sight and put her hand on her forehead. "Of course," she muttered under her breath. Sitting up she gave Matt a quick look before turning to the principal and putting both hands on the edge of his desk. "Look, I know this is obviously a bad situation, and I'm not a bad parent. I'm sure neither is Mr. Casey" She looked over at him and he nodded, wondering where she was going with this. "I understand that this happened at school, but if you just let me talk to my daughter, I'm sure I can get through to her and he can do the same with his son. If it's possible, maybe there could be no disciplinary action, and we can just take care of it personally." When the principal looked over at Matt he nodded in response. She spoke with authority and certainty, and hopefully it had convinced the principal because the last thing he wanted was for his son to have detention again. "Of course if you feel the need to take action I understand. This is your school of course." She sat back in her seat and Matt looked over at her, impressed. The principal looked between the two.
"You'll handle this on your own?" She nodded. "No more fights that your daughter's involved in. And you, Matt? You'll deal with your son." He nodded.
"Trust me, I will."
After taking a moment to think about it he nodded. "Your children are in the detention room down that hall, you can go get them. Next time, the school will deal with it though." They both thanked him and stood up, walking out of his office.
"Look, Mr. Casey,"
"Matt is fine." She nodded at him and they continued walking out of the office and down the hall.
"My daughter has never gotten in trouble in school, and as much of a menace as she can be I know she would never start a fight unless she was provoked. Since I just kept both of our kids from getting in trouble, I'd appreciate if you'd tell your son to not bother her again." Matts eyebrows raised in annoyance at this women. Despite the fact that it was likely Jake had caused the problem, he didn't appreciate her implying things. They stopped outside of the detention room.
"Gabriela, I really don't appreciate what you're implying."
"I'm not implying anything." She leaned against the wall and sighed. "Look, I don't mean to overstep my boundaries. But I've never been called by the school saying my daughter got in trouble until today. I've heard stories about your kid-" He opened his mouth to say something and she spoke louder to keep him from interrupting her, "and I get how hard it is to be a single parent. I just don't want to have to come bail my daughter out when I'm on shift again, alright?"
Matt sighed. As annoyed at he was he understood what she was talking about so he nodded.
"I will talk to him. But it does sound like you're implying something, and I don't appreciate it." She rolled her eyes at him and he scoffed, but before he got a chance to say anything else she opened the door.
"Maria, c'mon." A young girl who was a spitting image of her mother got up and without a chance for Matt to say anything else to Gabriela, they left.
"Do any of you know anything about a Gabriela Dawson? She's a paramedic." They were sitting in the common room after a call while Peter Mills was making lunch when Matt decided to ask about Gabriela.
After having a long talk with his son about how he couldn't get in trouble in school anymore, he'd learned that although Gabriela's daughter had punched him in the nose, he'd been throwing things at her for quite some time before that. It didn't mean he appreciated her attitude any more, but she was right. He'd thought about her a little after that, she was attractive, and since she was a paramedic he figured Shay may know something about her. She obviously did, because her and her partner Allison both looked up when he mentioned her.
"Yeah, before I got placed here I was at 27 for a few months, we were partners. She's probably like, the best paramedic in Chicago. We still talk every once in a while" It didn't really surprise Matt, she seemed very tenacious. 27 was also one of the busiest houses in the city along with theirs, so she must be good to keep up.
"I rode with her for a shift," Alison spoke up. " She's pretty amazing."
"Why you asking Casey?" Shay spoke up and came to sit by him. "You got a crush on my friend?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him and he rolled his eyes.
"No, Jake go into a fight with her daughter at school."
"Is Jake still acting up?" Herrmann looked over at him from the couch.
"Yeah, he was provoking her daughter and she punched him in the face and started the fight."
Shay let out a light laugh. "That definitely sounds like something Dawson would do, so it doesn't surprise me that her daughter did."
"What's the deal with her, is she married or something?"
"What, you interested in this Dawson girl Lieutenant?" Herrmann grinned at Matt and walked over to the kitchen, nudging Matt when he walked by. Matt shoved him away and looked back over at Shay.
"She's not married, but it's not really in my place to say anything else."
"Dad, can we have pizza for dinner?" Matt sighed.
"Kid, we can't have pizza for dinner everyday. You know that right?"
Jake groaned, and slumped down against the table where he was doing his homework. "What're you making for dinner anyways?"
"Hey, cut it out with the attitude. Do you want burgers or something?" Jake nodded, and went back to doing his homework. Matt noticed how sad he looked and walked over to the table, pulling out the chair next to him. "What's going on, are you alright?"
"We had to do some stupid thing in class about mother's day." Matt suddenly understood. "Why doesn't mom love us?" Matt closed his eyes for a moment, sighing. When he opened them, Jake was looking at him. Matt stood up, and grabbed his son from the chair, throwing him over his shoulder. "Dad! Put me down!" He screamed while laughing and Matt brought him over to the couch, tossing him down. Matt tickled him for a moment despite his sons protests that he was 'too old for tickle monster', but when he calmed down, Jake sat up and looked at his father again. "Well?"
Matt sighed, and sat down next to him. "I'm really sorry Jake, I wish I could answer that. But you know what?" Matt sat up and Jake did the same, asking "what?". "All that matters is that I love you just as much as two parents could. Maybe even more." Jake smiled.
"I love you too dad. Twice as much." The older Jake got the less attached he was to Matt, and as much as he understood that he was glad that Jake still showed some sort of affection. Matt wondered a lot whether or not he was doing things right, but since their talk about a month ago, he'd stopped acting out in school as much.
"You want some help with your homework?"
"I'm good." Jake slid off the couch. "But, can I have a friend over? Maybe this weekend." He looked hopeful.
"Who, Billy?"
"No Maria." Matt was surprised, he hadn't really thought much about the fight since Jake had been acting better lately.
"You two are friends now?"
Jake nodded. "Yeah, she's really good at science and math, we sit next to each other sometimes. And she's not annoying like all the other girls."
"Hey, not all girls are annoying." Matt thought about it for a moment, he'd thought most second graders enjoyed playing with kids their own gender, but he didn't see any harm in it. "Yeah, sure. Have her mom give me a call."
"Cool. Thanks dad." With Jake in the other room doing his homework, Matt was left thinking again about Gabriela Dawson. In all honestly, he was interested in talking to her again.
When the doorbell rang that Saturday Jake was the one who insisted he got the door. Matt walked up behind him after the two kids had greeted each other. Gabriela was standing behind her daughter in jeans and a white t shirt with her hair down, and if Matt hadn't found her attractive before he definitely did now. Even dressed so casually she looked gorgeous, and he found himself distracted for a moment before he snapped out of it. "Hey." Matt looked down at Jake who was looking up at him expectantly. "You two can go play if you want." The two ran off into the house and Gabby chuckled at the two kids.
"Didn't even bother saying bye to me, she's that excited." She looked up at Matt and leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over her chest. "Is there a certain time you want me to pick her up?"
Making the decision quickly, instead of telling her five like he'd originally planned, he said "you can come in, if you want?" She looked surprised, but stood up straight and nodded.
"Yeah sure." She locked her car, and walked in to the house. "Shoes on or off?"
"Either is fine." She kicked off her shoes, and put her purse at the table by the door. Following him, they walked into the kitchen. "You want some coffee, or tea?"
"Coffee is fine, thanks." She stood for a moment, looking around, before sitting down at the table.
"Cream or sugar."
"Neither." He walked over with the mug and set it down. "Thanks." He took a seat and took a sip of his own coffee. "Thanks for inviting me in. I know I wasn't exactly the nicest when we first met." He shook it off but she shook her head. "I know it sounded like I was implying you're a bad parent, but I wasn't. I just had a bad day at work and was frustrated."
"Hey it's alright. You work over at 27 right?" She nodded. "Yeah, I'm at 51. I work with Shay."
Gabriela immediately perked up when he mentioned her. "I love Shay, we were just talking the other day. Yeah, you're a lieutenant right?"
"Yeah, and I heard you're a kick ass paramedic." She smiled modestly and let out a quiet laugh. "No, really. Heard you're the best in Chicago."
"Oh god, did Shay tell you that? Tell her I'm not her PIC anymore so she can stop kissing my ass."
He laughed. "Really. From multiple sources." He could tell that all this talk about her was making her uncomfortable. "When are you on shift?"
"Ugh, I go in Monday morning. How about you?"
"The same."
"I feel bad, dropping her off on my brothers wife every three days."
"Trust me, I know how you feel. My sister watches him while I'm on shift."
"You've always wanted to be a firefighter?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "Ever since I was a kid. I doubt he'll follow in my footsteps though, he'll probably want to be a scientist or something. What about you? You like being a paramedic?"
"Yeah, I do. I mean I really wanted to go to medical school, but with just me and Maria I don't have the time." He was about to ask about her husband but she must've known that a more serious question was coming and changed the subject. They ended up talking for a while, and by the time five o'clock rolled around, they were deep in conversation and the kids didn't want to stop playing. They ended up staying for dinner, and the kids went back to playing while Matt and Gabby, as she had insisted he called her, sat on the couch drinking wine.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, no wife?" When Matt didn't respond right away Gabby regretted asking. "Ignore me, the wine is getting to me, and we barely know each other. I'm sorry."
"No, it's fine." He took a deep breath. This wasn't something he ever talked about, in fact he couldn't remember the last time he'd had to explain to someone. "She left us, when Jake was a baby. Didn't want anything to do with him."
She smiled forlornly at him. "Well good on you, for raising him. He seems like a good kid."
"Thanks. He asks about her sometimes, and it's just rough. I don't know how to explain it to him." She let out a hum and took another sip of her wine. "Since you asked about my personal life, do you have a husband." She grinned and shoved his shoulder lightly.
"Alright, let's talk about that I guess." She put her wine glass on the table. "My husband died, 5 years ago. Brain cancer." She could see the pity in his face and started to shake her head. "Don't look at me like that, c'mon Matt. It's fine."
"It's not fine, it's sad Gabby." She looked down. "You seem to be doing well."
"Yeah, it's been good. It was hard at first, but things are great now." They looked at each other for a moment before she smiled. "God, this is our first time talking, and I'm already pouring my heart out to you." He laughed and shrugged.
"It's nice, talking to you. I don't really have time to talk to other adults, between work and Jake."
"Trust me, I know exactly how you feel." She looked over at the clock on the cable box and groaned. "I've got to be getting home." She stood up and he followed, saying he'd go get the kids while she grabbed her things. Walking over to the door she put on her shoes, smiling to herself. It was nice to talk to another adult outside of work, and Matt was a great guy. He had her laughing the whole time, and was so generous to invite her and Maria over. At that thought Maria and Jake came through the door, Matt following behind them.
"Hey hun. You ready to go home?" She handed her daughter her shoes and she sat down to put them on and tie them up.
"No. We were just planning a volcano we were going to make." Gabbys eyebrows raised, and amused she looked over at Matt.
"Were you really?" Her daughter stood up and she handed her her sweatshirt. "Well, that's definitely not happening at our house. Did you help Jake clean up?"
"Yeah, she did ." Jake spoke up and went to stand by his dad. "Do you think maybe we could go to the park together next weekend." Matt and Gabby exchanged looks before he spoke up again. "You and dad can hang out like you did today."
"I don't see why that's a problem." Gabby smiled at Jake and then at Matt before putting her hand on Marias shoulder and opening the door. "Thank you for having us over."
"Yeah, anytime." They stepped out and Matt watched Gabby get in the car, smiling thinking about talking with her again.
They'd made it sort of a habit, seeing each other every weekend since then. This week, they were meeting up at the park. Matt was sitting on a bench, watching Jake swing on the monkey bars, waiting for Gabby to show. He was anxious, because since last weekend he'd been trying to think of a way to ask her out. He hadn't dated anyone in a while. He didn't want to get involved in something serious and have Jake get attached to someone who might leave. But he felt differently about Gabby. She made him ridiculously happy, and he looked forward to seeing her. She understood the position he was in because she herself had a daughter, but that also made him nervous. Because if she refused then he could completely understand why. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt someone sit down next to him. He looked over to see Gabby sitting down next to him, two coffees in hand. He smiled at her and accepted one, noticing how forced the smile on her face look.
"Are you okay?" He turned to face her more.
She looked at him for a moment before slouching back against the bench. "We lost a kid today. She had a pulmonary edema." Her eyes started to fill with tears and she wiped them away before they could fall, taking in a deep breath. "She was Maria and Jake's age, and I'm just…" Matt pulled her closer to him, and she rested her head against his shoulder for a moment. He rubbed her back, telling her that sometimes there's nothing you could do and that it wasn't her fault. Eventually she sat back up and smiled sadly at him before taking a sip of her coffee. "How was your shift? You had that crazy house fire, right?"
He nodded. "Yeah, the son was doing god knows what in the garage and it went up in flames." Her eyebrows raised. "Everyone was fine, but they've got a ton of property damage."
"Man, that sucks. That worries me, Maria's such a science nut I swear one day she's going to do something crazy."
"Trust me, I feel the same way with Jake." They sat for a moment in silence, her drinking her coffee, him trying to find the courage to bring up a date. "So, I was wondering if you'd maybe like to go out sometime?" She looked up at him, her mouth slightly open with a weird half smile on her face. Then she laughed, and he felt his stomach drop. Of course now he'd made things awkward. "Look-"
"Sorry, that was a bad response. Um, it's just that I haven't been on a date in years." She looked nervous now.
"Trust me, I haven't either. But I like you, a lot, and I feel like it would be a nice thing to do."
She licked her lips and nodded, thinking for a moment. "Yeah. I'll go on a date with you." His smile made her grin back at him just as wide, before she got fake serious. "Although, I am a single mother. So you should know what you're getting into."
He laughed before nodding. "Trust me, I have a good idea."