Today was a big day. It was the day that the boys would be graduating the Fire Academy. They had spent the night before polishing their shoes until they shone and glinted in the light. Their dress uniforms were finely pressed, their badges placed in exactly the right place and shinned up, their shirts clean and crisp. Nothing was being left out, they were leaving nothing to chance, they would be graduating standing tall and proud, this was what they had been working towards and nothing would spoil this day.

Their families had come to share the day with them, Andy and his parents, Kelly and his mother, along with his father Benny who had bothered to turn up, Matt wasn't spending the day alone because his sister Christie had come. The moment Christie had confirmed that there was no way she was going to miss his graduation, Matt had been grinning and in a cheerful mood that was never ending.

Andy and Kelly's moods had been lifted by Matt's, they were happy for their friend. They both knew Matt wished his parents could be there, Matt thought he was hiding this from them, but they had gotten to know Matt in the past nine months. They had even convinced Matt to start reading the letters sent to him by his mother, he still refused to go and visit her, but he did read the letters and would occasionally respond, but that was very rare and if he did the letters were very short. However, Nancy had asked to be sent a photo of Matt all dressed up in his uniform on his graduation, and Matt had agreed to do this. Kelly couldn't help but notice that Matt was slightly bitter about the fact that neither of his parents would have been at either of his graduations, from high school and the Academy. It made Kelly wonder what Matt's high school graduation was like. He knew Christie had made the trip to be there, but that would have been just a few short months since their father's murder and mother's arrest.

As the ceremony took place, Matt flickered his eyes over the gathered family and friends and found Christie looking up at him smiling broadly. He knew she was worried about him; she didn't want to loose someone else. However, she had admitted to being relieved when Matt would talk about the Academy and his friends, she was glad that he wasn't distancing himself from others and was happy again.

Once it was over, Kelly, Matt and Andy were bombarded by their families for photos; Andy's mother pushed the three of them together and snapped many photos of the three of them. So many that the constant flashes began blinding them.

They all went for a meal together, but as soon as they'd finished, Christie made her apologies; she had to catch a plane to take her back to college. Matt hugged her tightly and promised to fly out for her graduation in a few months, the sadness he'd felt today he knew she would also feel. Once Christie had gone, soon Andy's parents and Kelly's mom left. So they boys were left to sit and chat with Benny.

"So boys, which Houses are you being assigned to?" asked Benny as he sipped his coffee.

"I'm going to House eighty-nine," commented Kelly,

"House seven," added Andy, glad that for his twenty-first birthday his parents had bought him a car, as House seven was a bit far from their apartment.

"Fifty-one," said Matt,

"Oh really?" asked Benny in surprise, "That's my old House."

"Oh wow," responded Matt, not really sure what else to say. Kelly and Andy had expressed some longing when they had gotten their assignments; they were basically in the suburbs, whereas Matt was deep in the city.

Benny nodded, "I had plenty of good times there. There was the time when…" Benny then sprung into story after story, Matt nodded his head at certain points out of politeness, the thing was he wasn't really that interested and was finding it hard to keep up when one story ended and another began.

"Hey dad!" interrupted Kelly, taking pity on Matt, "Why don't you let Matt make his own stories huh?"

"Good idea," smiled Benny, clapping Kelly on the shoulder. Making Matt wish even harder that his dad were here to do that for him. "Why don't I buy all you boys a drink?"

"We can't," admitted Andy with a shrug.

"Why not?" frowned Benny, "It's a big day for you and your twenty-one now."

"I'm not," said Matt.

"Yeah, Mattie here is nineteen," teased Kelly with a grin.

"Oh right, okay," shrugged Benny, but he started giving weird looks at Matt. Making Matt think that Benny thought he was too young for the CFD, which was stupid seeing as he'd been allowed to apply and graduate the Academy.

Once they'd left Benny, the boys went home and got changed. That night they had tickets for the Blackhawk's game, which was how they were going to celebrate. It was also how they had celebrated Matt's nineteenth birthday, once they had spotted a photo of a younger Matt in his high school hockey's jersey during a game.

Once they got home they all crashed on the couch, all bubbling with excitement for their shifts starting next week.

For Matt and Kelly it was their first day as Candidates in the CFD at Firehouses fifty-one and eighty-nine. Matt carried his bag as he trudged down the hall of the apartment he shared with Andy and Kelly. He walked into the kitchen/living room area and found Andy and Kelly already waiting for him wearing huge grins. He and Kelly were the first ones out of the three of them to start as Candidates, Matt's and Kelly's shits were the same, but Andy's was the day before theirs, but today was a Monday and the week all the Candidates were starting so Andy had to wait for Wednesday.

"Morning!" greeted Andy enthusiastically, as Kelly pushed a bowl of Matt's cereal towards him.

"Morning," smiled Matt, he sat down and started to eat the cereal in front of him. He was excited, no doubt about that, but he was still sad about his parents missing his graduation, the day before he'd sent a photo of him, Kelly and Andy to his mother as he said he would, but didn't add a note. He'd almost written her a note asking how could she kill dad and therefore, make them both missing from the graduation, but he thought that that wouldn't go down well.

Kelly looked up at him with a look telling him he knew what he was thinking. "Looking forward to today?"

"Oh definitely," responded Matt, his smile beginning to grow.

"That's the smile we want to see!" commented Andy.

"Want a lift to fifty-one?" asked Kelly, sipping his coffee as he sat beside Matt.

"It's fine. I'll take the bus," replied Matt shaking his head.

"You'll take the lift," Andy sternly said. "It's a big day! And we'll give you a lift to fifty-one. Don't worry we won't embarrass you by picking you up tomorrow."

Matt rolled his eyes and smirked, "You mean you won't be picking me up because you don't want to be up early twice in row."

"That to," shrugged Andy with a grin.

Breakfast continued with jokes and jibes flying between them. Soon Matt stood up, and after putting his bowl in the sink. He picked up his bag and followed his roommates to Kelly's car.

Soon enough they had arrived outside Firehouse fifty-one. Andy and Kelly turned to face Matt who was in the back of the car, and offered him encouraging smiles. Matt smiled in return and then he got out of the car and made his way towards the House.

Seeing a few men milling around the truck he wandered over, his arms hanging loosely by his sides. Instantly he spotted the Lieutenant, the man turned around and saw him.

"Ah. You must be Candidate Casey," he stated with an outstretched hand.

"Yes sir," responded Matt, shaking his new Lieutenant's hand.

"I'm Lieutenant Grayson," Grayson said. He then turned and called, "Herrmann!"

"Yeah?" responded a voice from the other side of the truck. The owner of the voice then walked around the truck, to end up standing beside Matt.

"Herrmann, this is our new Candidate, Casey. Take him to Boden's office would you?" commented Grayson.

Herrmann nodded and then with a smile he gestured Matt to follow him. They walked between the truck and the Chief's car and into the building. Matt looked around him taking everything in. Herrmann nodded and smiled at other passing firefighters and turned to look at Matt.

"So you got a first name kid?" asked Herrmann in a kind voice. It was as if he sensed Matt's nervousness.

"Matt," he replied.

"I'm Christopher, but Chris is fine with me. Or even Herrmann if ya want." Smiled Herrmann, Matt's smile grew at the rambling of the man in front of him. "Can you cook Matt?"

"I guess," shrugged Matt, "I haven't killed anyone yet."

Herrmann laughed, "That's good to know. See, as you're the new Candidate, it will be down to you to cook meals until your probation is up." Matt nodded; Kelly had already told him that the Candidate of the House got given a lot of cleaning and cooking jobs. "Boden is a great Chief," continued Herrmann, "He's just been promoted to Chief, but eight years ago he was actually the truck Lieutenant of this House. So it's nice to have him back."

"At least then you know he's a good leader and that you can trust him," commented Matt.

Herrmann nodded, "Exactly." Soon they had reached the office space and Herrmann was knocking on the door of the Chief's office. Once the voice behind the door said to come in. Herrmann opened the door for Matt and gently pushed him into the office. "The new Candidate is here Chief." Then suddenly the door closed leaving Matt stood awkwardly on his own in front of the desk, looking across at Chief Boden.

He must have had a bewildered look on his face, despite trying to hide his nervousness, because Boden stood and walked around his desk to stand in front of Matt. He wore a comforting smile, which immediately put Matt at ease.

Because despite feeling and acting all grown up, he was still nineteen and had not been exposed to what he was actually about to face as a firefighter. Andy and Kelly, having to wait for the next Academy class, meant that they had joined the Academy at age twenty and with two years out of high school they had done some more growing up by going out and getting jobs and fending for themselves. They had helped him very much during the Academy, through his mother's sentencing and bringing him to live with them.

So, looking at Boden's smile, a small smile of his own began to grow on his face. Soon enough he was walking out of the office feeling more comfortable. He looked ahead and saw Herrmann had waited for him.

"Come on. I'll show you where the locker room is," smiled Herrmann.

Once Matt had put his bag into his locker and had gotten changed, he followed Herrmann into the communal area. There he saw Grayson and two other men sat at the small table behind the couch where another man sat.

"All settled in?" asked Grayson, looking up from the book he was reading. Herrmann went and sat beside the man on the couch, deliberately walking slowly so to block the man's view of the TV.

"Yes Lieutenant," nodded Matt. Trying to stifle his grin at Herrmann and the other man playfully shoving each other.

"Guys cut it out!" ordered Grayson, rolling his eyes. He turned to Matt and gestured him to take the seat beside him. Once Matt had sat down Grayson pointed over to the couch. "Herrmann you've already met, the other one over there is Mouch."

Matt frowned in confusion, the other two men sat across from him snorted in amusement. Herrmann turned to face Matt grinning, "Let's us know if you can work out the meaning behind that nickname." Nodding, Matt grinned back at Herrmann accepting the challenge.

Grayson then pointed to the other men sat at the table. "This is Ryan Lewis, and the old middle aged guy next to him is our driver Robbie Copeland."

"I'm not that old!" Copeland protested.

"Whatever you say," chuckled Lewis who couldn't have been more than five years older than Matt.

They all spent the next ten minutes talking, and Matt knew that he'd get on well at fifty-one. The peaceful and joking air was halted at the sound of the alarm. It turned out that Matt's first call on truck eighty-one would not be a fire, but a car accident. At the scene Grayson had Matt stick close to Herrmann. Listening to Herrmann's guidance and orders helped centre Matt and soon enough the four trapped victims were out and on their way to the hospital.

Matt stood and stared at the car wreck. It was then, when he knew he was where he belonged. Being at the Academy had given him an inkling of what was to come and he had been inching to graduate, wanting to know if he had found his true calling. And right now, he knew he had been right. He was meant to be a firefighter.

Throughout the rest of the day, he took the time to get to know his fellow firefighters at fifty-one. And also made lunch and dinner and cleaned the showers. He looked at the squad team and could easily picture Kelly amongst them, knowing that was what his friend was aiming for. The engine guys were nice and had great senses of humour. That night he settled on a bed and snuggled down to sleep, wondering what Kelly and Andy were getting up to. Andy was probably enjoying having the TV all to himself, not having Kelly to fight over the remote with.

At six in the morning the alarm went off again. This time it was a house fire. Matt could see the orange glow of the house from the end of the street as they sped towards the house. Once again he was directed to follow Herrmann. It was a three-story house with a basement. So there was a lot of ground to cover, and the fire was already pretty bad. Boden ordered engine to try and buy as much time as possible for truck and squad to search the house for the family.

On the second floor, Matt and Herrmann found two young children huddling under the bed and swiftly moved the bed and carried the children outside. Once he was walking down the steps, he removed his mask and ignoring the news reporter and the cameraman at the front of the nearby crowd. He gently placed the little girl on the stretcher, and with a reassuring smile he turned and followed Herrmann back towards the house. Where squad were exiting with the parents, and Grayson and Lewis exited with two more children. Then it became a rush to try and stop the wind from causing the flames to jump across to the next house.

It was forty minutes past shift's end when the truck finally pulled up in the hanger. Tiredly Matt pulled off his bunker gear and headed towards the locker room. He grabbed a quick shower and once he had gotten changed he took his bag and followed the other's out of the House, smiling at the next shift of firefighters already there. He walked down the street to the bus stop and was pleased to see the bus already making its way down the street. He was so tired that he was lucky to remember to get off the bus at his stop, otherwise who knew when he'd remember to actually get off the bus.

He entered their apartment and just flopped down on the couch. Not even registering the uncomfortable position he was in. The house fire had taken a lot of energy out of him. It was as if the fire was stubbornly refusing to die down. He hadn't even noticed that the TV was on, signalling that Kelly was already back. His eyes slipped closed and he drifted off to sleep.

Kelly heard the front door of the apartment open and close, and knew Matt had come home. The fact that his younger friend was late told him that there must have been a call close to the end of shift. So he wandered out of the bathroom to find Matt sprawled out on the couch, in what looked like to him, a starfish impression.

He shook his head fondly and took off Matt's shoes, and positioned him comfortably on the couch with a blanket over him. Kelly then sat himself in the armchair and lowered the volume on the TV. He turned hearing Andy stumbling make his way to the kitchen for some coffee.

"Is Matt back yet?" Andy called.

"Shhh!" stressed Kelly, glancing over at Matt who groaned as he shifted on the couch. Frowning, Andy wandered over, clutching his mug of coffee, and then looked down at the couch.

"Oh," Andy softly mumbled. "Ooops."

Kelly rolled his eyes; Andy perched on the arm of the couch nearest Matt's feet and smiled down at the teenager.

"What?" asked Kelly,

"Isn't he cute?" grinned Andy.

Kelly looked at Andy with one eyebrow raised. "You did not just call him cute."

"Aw, but look at him!" teased Andy.

Shaking his head Kelly commented, "Just don't wake him up. He's literally just walked through the door."

Andy nodded in understanding and turned to the TV. Excitedly he pointed at the screen grabbing Kelly's attention. On the screen was a news report about a house fire that had taken place early that morning. And there, walking out of the house, holding a little girl and taking off his mask was Matt.

"Look its Mattie!" exclaimed Andy.

"Mattie?" groaned a sleepy voice from the couch.

Kelly looked over to see Matt blinking awake and mockingly glaring at Andy. "Told you not to wake him," admonished Kelly, glaring up at Andy.

Matt smiled at him and sitting up he shook his head, "It's fine. I don't know why I'm so tired. The call came in at six a.m. and there were no calls during the night. So it's not like I was sleep deprived."

"Looks like a tough call," commented Andy nodding at the TV. Which showed the firefighters battling to keep the fire under control.

"It was a bit," admitted Matt.

Kelly looked at the screen and watched as Matt and his fellow House fifty-one firefighters took on the fire. Every now and then, Matt would appear on screen following an older man. Kelly was glad to see that the other man would turn to check on Matt to make sure he was okay, but wasn't coddling him. He'd get Matt to help take an active role in tackling the fire. He frowned seeing the name on the bottom of one of the other's men's bunker jackets.

"Is that guy's surname really Mouch?" he asked.

Matt just laughed and shook his head. "No that's just his nickname. Herrmann set me the challenge of trying to work out why he's called Mouch. His real name is Randall McHolland."

"Okay," grinned Kelly. It sounded as if Matt was working with some great guys, which eased his mind. Not that he was going to admit that. Matt was very capable of looking after himself, but after getting to know Matt after Andy found him in the line on the first day at the Academy. The teenager had become Kelly's unofficial little brother, and that meant he was always going to keep an eye on Matt and make sure he was okay, because that was what big brothers were for.

It had been four months since Matt had become the Candidate of truck eighty-one. He loved his job, and while he had had to witness some upsetting scenes. His friends were there to help him. Kelly and Andy had had to face similar scenes on their trucks, so they were all there for each other.

For most of his life, Matt had always seemed to remain quiet in the background. However, now people were looking to him to help them out of whatever situation they were in. And he was only nineteen. It gave him confidence in himself and helped prove to himself that he was worth something.

The End.

A/N I've made some little changes to my one-shot 'What Happened?' but only in terms of when Andy's shift is, because I forgot when writing this one and liked what I did so I've gone back and changed a couple of sentences.