Things had been changing over the past year. Six months after Kelly had joined squad three, the driver of truck eighty-one, Robbie Copeland, had retired so Ryan Lewis moved to be the driver and Andy had transferred to eighty-one. Furthermore, Andy had just moved in with his girlfriend, Heather, of eight months, so while Kelly and Matt were sad to see him move out, they were at least all working together. Eighty-one also had a new Candidate, Mark Weston, meaning Matt was finally relieved of his cooking and cleaning duties and the title of Candidate.
It was Weston's second shift and Kelly could tell Matt was loving his new position within the team of eighty-one. While Matt was never one of the guys who ordered Weston to cook food or clean the showers, he would sit back with his arms crossed grinning in contentment.
So Kelly dropped down onto the chair beside Matt's in the common area. "I take it you're loving your new found power?"
"What power?" frowned Matt in confusion.
Kelly gestured to Weston who was currently making dinner, "You know, making the Candidate do all the jobs?"
Matt rolled his eyes and sighed, "Kelly, you know I'm not ordering Weston to do anything. Not very long ago that was me."
"Yeah, so I thought you'd jump at the chance to get pay back," shrugged Kelly.
Matt leaned forward and took a sip of his drink. "It's not really getting pay back by ordering someone around who had nothing to do with making me make all the food or doing the cleaning is it? And that's just not me."
Kelly shook his head smiling at Matt, "You're too nice of a person."
"Compared to you, hell yes I am," grinned Matt.
"Hey!" exclaimed Kelly as he shoved Matt, almost making his friend tip his water down him.
"Watch it!"
"That's your fault for insulting me!"
"Didn't mean you had to shove me with a drink in my hand!"
"Ladies! You can stop now!" Kelly and Matt spun around to shoot glares at Andy. Unfazed, Andy just stood and stared at his friends with his arms crossed. "You two squabbling isn't exactly setting a good example for the Candidate over there is it?"
"Since when do you care about setting a good example?" asked Matt with a brow raised.
"Yeah, and when did acting so grown up become a thing for you?" added Kelly.
Andy sighed in annoyance when Kelly and Matt shared a high five, "Seriously guys?"
Herrmann walked across the room and shook his head, "Those two have been nothing but trouble the past year. Bad idea having them working in the same House."
"Who? Us?" queried Matt with a wide-eyed innocent look on his face.
"Right," nodded Herrmann as he leaned against the counter biting into an apple. "You're the perfect picture of innocence," continued Herrmann with his tone dripping with sarcasm. Matt shot Herrmann a wide toothy grin, Herrmann tried all he could, but he couldn't resist smiling in response, with a shake of his head he began to cross the room over to the couch where Mouch was snorting into his coffee.
'Truck eighty-one, Engine fifty-one, Squad three and Ambulance sixty-one, warehouse fire…'
Suddenly everyone was up on their feet, Weston threw down the knife he was using and rushed after everyone else, this was his first fire and Kelly could see that he was nervous. Before Kelly could say anything, Matt had slowed down to jog beside Weston.
"Just deep breaths Weston, and everything will be fine," said Matt in a calm tone. Weston nodded and shot a small smile at Matt. Soon Matt and Andy were out of Kelly's sight after clambering into eighty-one. Seeing how Matt was watching over Weston, Kelly knew that some day his friend would make a fantastic mentor, or even Lieutenant. Matt was definitely someone Kelly could see as a Truck Lieutenant, he just had that calm manner that soothed victims and made other firefighters listen to what he had to say, even though he was only three years on the job.
Sat in the back of squad three, Kelly couldn't help but feel uneasy about the upcoming fire. Something in the back of his head said that something was going to go wrong. He shook the feeling away dismissing it immediately. I must be imagining things, how could I think something is wrong when we haven't even got on scene yet? He thought to himself, watching truck eighty-one roaring ahead of him.
He had no idea that within the next hour he was going to realize that he hadn't been imagining anything, and that something was going to go wrong.
Once they had arrived on scene, the manager who had called them, said he had three guys in the warehouse; two were in the upstairs office and one other who was somewhere on the ground floor. So Boden had squad head upstairs to the office, going through a window so Grayson put Andy in control of the ladder, while truck went to search the ground floor in two groups; the first being Grayson, Weston and Lewis, and the second group being Herrmann, Mouch and Matt.
Herrmann took the lead of their group as they searched the left hand side of the warehouse. In no time over his radio, Matt heard that squad had got the two men from the office and it was confirmed the third guy was somewhere on the main floor.
As he moved forward in his crouch, Matt kept his eyes on the flickering flames of the fire and for the missing man. For the next few moments while the radio was silent, all he could hear was the sound of his own breath rattling in his mask, and the roaring of the fire, along with the calls of the truck guys.
"Fire Department! Call out!" shouted Matt, his eyes flickering from side to side. They had almost reached the back of the warehouse and still they had not found the man, and Matt was beginning to worry. The man would already have suffered smoke inhalation, and he knew if they didn't find him soon, it would be very bad.
His attention was drawn to Mouch who yanked on Herrmann's arm, "Herrmann! Over there!" Matt's eyes followed Mouch's arm, and sure enough, laid out on his stomach was the man they were looking for. The three of them charged over while Herrmann got on his radio, "Chief, Grayson, we've got him!"
Instantly they heard Boden's reply, "Good work men, let's get him out. Grayson you and your group exit the warehouse."
"Copy Chief," responded Grayson.
So Herrmann helped Mouch sling the man over Mouch's shoulders, then Mouch was swiftly moving out along the wall and out towards the entrance, with Herrmann and Matt following close behind.
The metal walkways above them began to groan and creak, creating an eerie sound along with the roaring of the fire. Mouch moved faster, Matt, from the back of the group saw that they were halfway out. His breath quickened and something screamed at him to move faster and just get out of the warehouse.
Suddenly, the groaning and creaking of the metal walkway turned into a high-pitched shriek. That was the only warning Matt got before he felt himself pushed face first to the ground with a great amount of force, he heard Herrmann shout his name and then he knew nothing else.
Kelly stood outside the warehouse, just staring at it, he watched as Grayson's group exited the building, and he knew Matt's group were on their way out. However, his heart was pounding and his palms were sweaty, and it had nothing to do with the fire. Andy threw him a confused look, but he just shrugged it off, everything was fine, nothing was wrong, right?
Suddenly, everyone flinched at a high-pitched shriek only metal could make, followed by a loud crash. They were all silent, until all their radios picked up Herrmann and Mouch's frantic calls.
"Chief! Half of the walkway has collapsed!"
Herrmann's shout stopped Kelly's heart cold, "Casey's down! Half the walkway and some rubble have buried him!"
Boden clenched his eyes shut for a second, "Mouch bring the man out! Herrmann try and locate Casey, help is coming in!"
Kelly didn't wait to be told, he was already moving, he was running. All he could think was. Not Matt, please not him. Let him be alive, I can't loose Matt, not my little brother. He knew the footsteps close behind him belonged to Andy, they weren't just going to rescue a fellow firefighter and friend, they were going to rescue their brother.
They past Mouch with the man on his shoulders on their way in and he looked frantic, that did nothing to soothe Kelly's racing thoughts. Soon he found Herrmann crouched on the floor beside a pile of rubble and part of the walkway hanging, from the rest of itself, twisted and protruding from the rubble. Herrmann was desperately calling Matt's name as he frantically shifted rubble, although despite his rush he was still gentle with the rubble, so as not to cause the hanging walking to shift and either fully collapse or bring more rubble down on top of Matt.
Kelly came to a sudden stop beside Herrmann and looked at the older man, trying to conceal his panic from his eyes. He flickered his gaze to his left and gasped, there peaking out from underneath the rubble was Matt's arm. With the arrival of Andy and Lieutenants Grayson and Johnson, together they slowly shifted the rubble off of Matt. It was slow going, at least it was for Kelly, he just wanted to rip away the rubble and bundle Matt up in his arms and carry him out of the warehouse. However, he couldn't, because he knew otherwise he'd just make everything worse.
Once they only had to unbury Matt's legs they were relieved to discover that the force of the walkway had pushed Matt far enough forwards, that he was able to avoid being buried beneath the majority of the rubble and his air tank and thick bunker gear most likely saved him from major back injuries along with the lack of rubble on top of him. It was his lower legs that had been mostly buried so they all hoped that the worst it could mean was Matt having a broken ankle. While the others worked on clearing Matt's legs, Kelly hovered by Matt's head. Matt's helmet had slipped forwards and off his head, but with a dent in it, at least meaning that it had protected Matt from the brunt of the rubble, his mask was cracked and there was blood slowly seeping from Matt's forehead. Kelly reach out and gently shook his brother's shoulder.
"Matt? Mattie? Can you hear me?" he swallowed past the lump in his throat, and tightened his grip on Matt's shoulder, "Come on buddy, let me know you can hear me."
Despite the still roaring fire being battled back by engine, Kelly could still hear the quiet groan loud and clear. "…Kel…?" mumbled Matt, his eyes blinking, stubbornly not staying open.
"Yeah it's me," choked Kelly. He looked up and met Andy's relieved shinning eyes. Matt's gaze met Kelly's for a second, before his eyes rolled back and he was once again blissfully unconscious. "Matt?!"
"He's free!" exclaimed Grayson, "Let's get him out of here!"
Together they all grabbed a hold of Matt and carried him out of the warehouse and onto the waiting stretcher. While Matt was being loaded into the ambulance somehow, Kelly and Andy both got themselves in the ambulance, Andy was in the front with the driver and Kelly was in the back grasping onto Matt's limp hand.
Soon enough they were at the hospital and Kelly and Andy were abandoned in the waiting room, not knowing what was going on. Andy dropped into a chair and tiredly rested his head in his hands, Kelly just paced back and forwards, over and over again. Just as he was about to sit down, the image of Matt falling back unconscious would take centre stage of his thoughts, causing him to pace quickly once again, it was the only thing he could do to try and banish the image away.
He didn't know how long it had been since Matt had been brought in, but when he turned to pace again he found Boden sat beside Andy and looking up at him. Slowly Kelly found himself walking over to the Chief and sat down on the other side of him.
Boden patted both of their shoulders, "Casey's strong, he'll be fine."
Kelly nodded, but some small part of him just wouldn't be convinced of this until he saw Matt for himself.
A little while later a voice was heard, "Family of Matthew Casey?" asked a middle-aged man, Boden, Kelly and Andy shot to their feet and crowded around the doctor. "He has cracked ribs, a broken left ankle and a concussion. He is still unconscious and that it likely to last a few hours, but we did a scan and it shows no major head trauma. So all in all, he's very lucky, he'll only have to remain off work for the length of time it takes for his ankle to heal."
Kelly breathed a sigh of relief, "Can…can we see him?"
The doctor paused in thought, "Visitor hours are over, but you can briefly see him and then you'll have to leave I'm afraid until tomorrow."
Kelly opened his mouth to protest, but Boden shot him a look and said, "Its unlikely Casey will be awake anytime soon, so while we wait you might as well finish your shift and can come back here tomorrow morning."
Andy nodded in agreement so Kelly, outnumbered and with another sigh, nodded. The doctor showed them to Matt's room, Boden briefly poked his head into the room to see Matt and then he left the room giving Andy and Kelly a moment.
They slowly approached the bed; Kelly stopped halfway and felt his eyes stinging with tears at the sight of his brother. Matt was lying still and pale in the bed, and he had a bandage wrapped around his forehead. Andy made it to the side of the bed and gently squeezed Matt's hand.
"You wake up soon yeah?" murmured Andy softly, "You've got us all worried so the least you can do for scaring us like that is waking up soon. Look we've got to finish the shift, but we'll be back soon to come and sit next to you and talk so much you'll have to wake up to tell us to shut up." With one more squeeze of Matt's hand, Andy then turned and left the room.
Kelly slowly approached the side of the bed, he swallowed past the lump in his throat, "You listen to Andy okay? And I'll promise to let you watch all the films you like the first night you come home, I'll even watch the films you love but I hate, and I'll even add in pizza and beer on me, okay?" His voice hitched on the last word, he shook his head. "This is the first time one of the three of us has gotten hurt enough on the job to be admitted to hospital, and you have to be first and do it in style don't you? Well do me a favour little brother, don't do it again!" He rubbed a hand across his eyes and sniffled, knowing he had to leave, but hating the thought of it, he squeezed Matt's hand and then swiftly left the room, not able to see Matt lying so still and pale in the hospital bed.
While Boden drove the three of them back to fifty-one, no one said a word. Kelly was in the back and looked out at the night sky, it could have gone so wrong that night, but thankfully it hadn't, but he was going to be haunted by the night's events for a long time.
They arrived at fifty-one where everyone else was silently tucking into dinner; the three of them grabbed some plates and found a seat. Kelly just sat eating silently while Boden updated everyone on Matt's status. Little did Kelly know, he wasn't the only one feeling haunted about what had happened.
After dinner, Herrmann found himself wandering about the House until he ended up sat on his bunk, leaning on the wall and his feet stretched out in front of him. He stared out across the room to a bunk that was in line with his; Matt's bunk mirrored Herrmann's on the opposite wall and was situated between Andy and Kelly's bunks. A half smile graced Herrmann's face when he thought about the number of times the three of them had been laughing and joking, causing all types of mischief. The smile faded when he remembered why Matt wasn't calling him an old man for going to bed early.
The metal walkway shrieked and a loud crash had Herrmann turning around. "Casey!" he shouted as he went to move forward, but was pulled sharply back by Mouch. So he watched as the last bits of falling rubble buried his friend. The grip on his arm slackened and Herrmann took a hesitant step forward, just staring at the rubble and the twisted remains of the fallen part of the walkway that protruded from the rubble. All sounds had faded away, until it all came rushing back, the still groaning walkways, the roaring of the fire. He half turned hearing Mouch shout into his radio.
"Chief! Half of the walkway has collapsed!"
Herrmann shook himself and added, "Casey's down! Half the walkway and some rubble have buried him!"
They waited a second until Boden's reply came, "Mouch bring the man out! Herrmann try and locate Casey, help is coming in!"
He didn't look back as he heard Mouch's retreating footsteps; he just lunged forward and landed heavily on his knees beside the pile of rubble. Oh God, where do I start? He thought, he carefully moved aside the rubble that was on the edge of the pile; within seconds he could see one of Casey's hands. Hope blossomed in his chest, if Casey's hand was on the edge of the pile then perhaps the main bulk of rubble and the fallen walkway hadn't injured him too seriously.
"Casey?! Hey Casey can you hear me?!" he called, his hands shook and he just wanted to rip away the rubble, but knew he couldn't. "Come on Matt! Answer me damnit! Matt!"
Hurried footsteps approached and he briefly looked up to see Severide and Darden hurrying towards him. Severide dropped down beside him; the look of panic and fear in Severide's eyes was not something Herrmann would ever forget. He knew Severide was facing the possibility of loosing his brother, Herrmann knew his eyes would look the same if it was Mouch who was buried under the rubble. However, it wasn't Mouch, it was Casey, the former Candidate, who over the past three years, had become a great friend and even in some ways an honouree Herrmann (as Cindy had fallen for the young, innocent Casey when she first met him when he was nineteen).
He shuddered as he remembered how limp Casey had been as they carried him out of the warehouse. His bed dipped and he looked up from his hands to find Mouch sat on the end of his bed.
"Are you okay?" asked Mouch,
"Yeah, I'm fine," shrugged Herrmann with a grin.
Mouch raised a brow, "Uh huh."
"Oh don't 'uh huh' me Mouch! I said I'm fine!" countered Herrmann, his voice holding some irritation.
"You forget that I've known you your whole life and not only that we shared an apartment for four years when you first started on the job*. So I think I know when you're fine and when you're not," commented Mouch flatly.
Herrmann just glared at his friend, "I am fine. I'm not the one in the hospital."
Mouch sighed, "Chris there was nothing you could do to stop the rubble falling on Casey."
Herrmann crossed his arms and clenched his hands into fists, "I should have gone last, Grayson put me in lead of our group, and it was my job to make sure everyone got out. So I should have gone last."
"Then it would have been you buried under the rubble instead!" protested Mouch.
"Matt's just a kid Randy," interjected Herrmann.
"What about Cindy and the kids?! I know you're close with Casey, but I damn well know that he'd hate to hear you talking like that! And he'd be glad it was him instead of you! He's going to be all right Chris! So stop blaming yourself!" growled Mouch as he pointed a finger at Herrmann. "You always blame yourself for stuff going wrong when it's not your fault, just like when Jeremy-"
"Don't," interrupted Herrmann sharply, "Don't bring Jeremy into this, you weren't even there when that happened. I was a Candidate in a different House to you then*. And I am fine, I just came here for some peace and quiet."
Mouch held his hands up in surrender, "Okay," then he smiled, "It is quieter without our cheeky little former Candidate, though."
Herrmann snorted, "Got that right." His smile grew and he and Mouch just began to talk about anything and everything until it was late enough for them to settle down and go to sleep.
It was about midnight and Andy just couldn't go to sleep. He knew Matt was going to be fine, and while it would take him a while to get over what happened, Andy was mostly worried for Kelly. His childhood friend had taken what happened to Matt hard, this was a new situation for them and despite only knowing Matt for four years; they had all become so close, they were brothers, and to see one brother in a situation, which easily could have killed him, was rattling.
Andy leaned up on his elbows and peaked over at Kelly, it was jarring not having Matt in the bunk between them, but seeing Kelly asleep was comforting. Even though it was clear that Kelly's sleep was not restful, the fact that he was asleep and not suffering nightmares was something positive.
Kelly had become protective of the friend he viewed as a little brother, and Andy hated to think what would become of Kelly if one day Matt didn't come home. It was bad enough that they'd had a small taste of what it could be like, and Andy never wanted to see it become a reality. Injuries they could handle, but anything worse was nothing short of a nightmare.
Checking that Kelly was still sleeping, Andy lay back down and finally went to sleep. Dreaming about the troublesome friends he called brothers.
The next morning Kelly had leapt out of the car at the hospital, and leaving Andy to park the car he marched up to Matt's room. As he walked through the door he stopped suddenly, the squeak of his shoes caused the occupant of the bed to slowly turn their head to face him.
"Kelly," mumbled Matt in a hoarse voice, his eyes blinking against the light.
With wide eyes straining not to cry, Kelly quickly made his way to the chair beside the bed and hurriedly sat down. He leaned forward and clutched his brother's nearest hand. "Matt. How you feeling?"
"Oh, like I was hit by a bus," muttered Matt, frowning in annoyance at his croaky and hoarse voice.
That startled a laugh out of Kelly, "Nice to see that weird sense of humour of yours is still in one piece. How long you been awake?"
"Not long," commented Matt, "I vaguely remember waking up during the night, but that was only for a few seconds. According to the nurse who came by a few minutes ago, I was in and out of consciousness a lot during the night. But I've been properly awake since she came in."
Kelly nodded and thought back on how he had wanted to stay the night beside his friend, "Sorry I wasn't here during the night."
Matt waved his hand in the air dismissing his comment; "You'd only have been bored and driven mad by the waiting. It was probably for the best, for yourself and the hospital staff, that you went back to fifty-one."
"You're probably right," nodded Kelly, remembering how high strung he had been in the waiting room.
"Thanks for waiting Kelly! Geez!" complained Andy as he walked into the room. Matt looked between his two friends with a smirk on his face. Andy's face broke out into a wide grin seeing Matt was awake. "Ah! Little brother is back in the land of the living!"
Matt rolled his eyes, "Nice to see you too Andy."
"It's always nice to see me!" responded Andy,
"Highly doubt that," muttered Kelly to Matt.
"Rude," huffed Andy, seeing the shared grins between Matt and Kelly.
Later when Andy and Kelly had gone to get lunch, and Matt was waking up again, he spotted a familiar figure in the doorway about to turn and walk away.
"Hi Herrmann," greeted Matt, once again with a hoarse voice he noted with annoyance.
Herrmann turned back around and walked into the room, he sat in the chair and smiled at Matt. "So they got you on the good stuff?"
"Oh yeah, so good it keeps making me fall asleep," commented Matt wryly.
"Ah that won't last long," smiled Herrmann. "Good to see you awake though."
Matt looked up at the older firefighter with a serious look, "Did everyone else get out okay?"
Herrmann nodded, "Yeah, apart from the guys needing rescuing, you were the only one who decided to have a nice ride on a stretcher and an ambulance."
"Don't make me laugh!" protested Matt as he held his hands around his middle.
"Oops, sorry," grinned Herrmann, not looking at all sorry. "When you're feeling up to it, Cindy has invited you around for dinner, so just let me know and I'll have her cook up the dish you had last time."
Matt's mouth watered at the thought of having the meal Cindy had cooked for him last time he had been invited over to the Herrmann's for dinner. "I'll be there crutches and all."
"Oh yeah! You've got yourself some paid medical leave! Have fun on those crutches," snorted Herrmann.
"Have you ever had crutches?" asked Matt,
"Nah, but my older brother did once. It was hilarious seeing him trying to walk with them for the first time," grinned Herrmann.
"Great. Kelly's gonna love that," moaned Matt.
"What am I gonna love?" asked Kelly as he walked back into the room.
"Me. Trying to learn how to walk on crutches," commented Matt resignedly.
Kelly grinned widely and rubbed his hands together, "This is gonna be great." Seeing the look on Matt's face he added, "Don't worry I won't film you."
"Thanks," smiled Matt, rolling his eyes.
When Andy returned the four of them chatted for a bit until Herrmann said he had to get back home. The doctor also came in and said Matt was being discharged the next day, much to Matt's joy, even if he was going to have his foot in a cast and crutches.
It was Matt's first night home, he and Kelly were sat on the couch, a bunch of films lined up to watch, pizza on their laps, beer bottles handy and Kelly had even got a pillow for Matt to rest his injured ankle on.
As they watched the films they also planned what they were going to go for Andy's twenty-fifth birthday next month, with Kelly extracting a promise from Matt to not get himself injured again between now and Andy's birthday. Matt rolled his eyes but promised nonetheless, agreeing that it would be a mood killer for Andy's birthday if he was injured, even if there was only going to be a week between Matt going back to work and Andy's birthday.
It was eleven at night when the last film ended, Kelly helped a tired Matt to his room and once again promising he wouldn't take anytime off work to help Matt around the apartment. (Because, "I'm old enough to look after myself Kelly!")
He finished in the bathroom and poked his head around Matt's door, and smiled seeing his friend was deeply asleep. "Night little brother," he softly murmured. He closed the door with a quiet click and headed into his own room.
It had been a trying couple of days, but Kelly knew they would all be fine and back to normal soon. Work would be strange without Matt there for a few weeks, but soon enough Matt would be back cracking jokes with Andy and Kelly and teasing Herrmann. Business as usual.
The End.
A/N * These are references to the one-shot I wrote about Mouch and Herrmann called 'Changing Paths'.