Girl Power

The team was just finishing up with lunch...and everyone was hanging around the common room.

Kelly's phone went off...Forever...his ring tone for Alyssa.

"Hey Babe..." he said as the call connected. "Everything okay?"

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"You remember how last night...Andy and Jesse were begging you to allow them to take Maggie to the playground themselves?"

He did remember. They were allowed to go down to the park as long as there was a big group of kids. That wasn't too hard to do...their cousins were usually around. He figured a whole posse would be fine.

But he'd never let them take Maggie with them. She was only three...and well...she was his baby girl.

Last night he had relented...and given them permission to take her with them...as long as they stayed close to her...didn't get distracted by the other kids...held her hand crossing the street...and a whole laundry list of other rules.

He didn't like the way this conversation was going.

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"So after lunch all the kids walked over to the park...the boys, Maggie, Aiden, Connor...Garrett and Dylan...oh, and Micah went too." Alyssa went on.

"Yeah?"

Seven boys...should be okay...

Right?

"Well...apparently the kids ran into a boy named Spencer Metcalf. You remember him? He and his brother used to go to St. Pasqual's before their dad pulled them out..."

Kelly remembered the Metcalf brothers well. They were both bullies who liked picking on little kids. Jesse had punched Robbie in the mouth for pushing Andy down. And both of them had stood up to Spencer when he and his buddies were teasing a group of kindergarten girls.

He also remembered Robbie and Spencer's dad...Sergeant Metcalf...the three hundred pound cop who just about gave himself an aneurysm yelling about how Andy and Jesse should be suspended for threatening his sons.

Yeah...that ended well.

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"I remember." He said. "What happened?"

"Maggie was playing on those riding toys...the ones on the big springs?"

He wished his wife would just cut to the chase...instead of drawing out the story. If this Spencer kid had laid one finger on his little girl...there'd be no place for him to hide.

"So Spencer comes around and he started teasing Maggie. He called her a little baby..."

"And what did Andy and Jesse do to him?" Kelly asked.

That was the reason for the call, right? To tell him the twins had pounded lumps on some kid for teasing their sister?

"Nothing. They didn't do anything."

"What!?"

Kelly couldn't believe that.

"They never got a chance. Maggie kicked him in the shins and he fell down and started crying."

"What? You're shittin' me..."

"You know she's got your temper..." Alyssa replied. "Anyway...Spencer's dad just called over here...raving like a lunatic...screaming so loud I had to hold the phone a foot away from my ear..."

"I'll take care of him." Kelly said quickly.

No way was that fat bastard gonna scream at his wife...

"Oh, I told him he should take the matter up with my husband." she told him. "I'm just calling to give you a heads up. He's prob'ly on his way now."

"Don't worry...I'll handle it." he reassured her. "Is Maggie okay?"

"She's still pissed...you know she can hold a grudge."

"Must be the Sicilian in her..."

He couldn't take all the blame for Maggie's fiery temper. The little girl got the Irish from his side and the Italian from her mother.

"I gotta go, Babe. Don't worry about anything. Love you..."

"Love you too..."

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Kelly ended the call...and he burst out laughing!

He couldn't stop himself...he practically fell out of his chair. His sides were splitting and he had tears running down his cheeks. He just couldn't pull it together.

The team stared at him...wondering what on Earth had gotten into the Lieutenant.

"Wanna...let us in on the joke, Lieutenant?" Cruz asked.

It took a few more minutes for Kelly to get control...then he wiped his eyes.

Everyone was standing...waiting to see if Shay and Dawson needed to slap the restraints on him and take him to the Behavioral Health Center over at Lakeshore.

"Care to share?" Casey asked.

Kelly took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Andy and Jesse took Maggie to the playground for the first time..."

Matt made a motion with his hand...signaling to keep it going."

"Well...do you remember the problems they had with a kid named Spencer Metcalf last year?"

"Is that the one Jesse punched? That was a long time ago..." Mills remembered.

"No that was Robbie...Spencer's big brother. Spencer's a year behind the twins." Kelly explained. "So anyway...this Spencer kid was at the park...and he started teasing Maggie. He called her a little baby."

"Oh...them's fightin' words..." Clarke chimed in.

"So what did Andy and Jesse do to him?" Casey asked. "We didn't get the call..."

It had been perfectly quiet all day. Not even an ambulance run.

"They didn't have to do anything. Apparently Maggie kicked Spencer so hard she made him cry."

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Everyone was stunned speechless.

Maggie? Maggie made a third grader cry? Maggie...who was barely three feet tall? Who barely weighed thirty pounds?

Then the giggles started...as they all tried to keep straight faces.

"All right!" Dawson cheered. "Go Maggie! Get a little Girl Power up in here!"

"Emphasis on little..." Otis said.

"I'd have paid to see that..." Casey said.

"We all would..." Shay agreed. "We could've sold tickets..."

"T-shirts..." Hermann added, always looking for a business opportunity.

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They were interrupted by the squeal of tires on the driveway...and someone laying on the horn.

Kelly looked at his friends...then headed out to see what was going on.

He already knew...

The whole team followed right behind him.

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There stood Sergeant Metcalf...seething...breathing fire. His shirt strained to cover his enormous girth...and his pants were gathered beneath his gut. His chest heaved as he took breath after breath.

"Severide!" he hollered out.

"I'm right here." Kelly said. "You don't gotta yell."

"Your kids went after Spencer at the park!" Metcalf hissed, advancing on Kelly.

Kelly just crossed his arms over his chest and looked bored at the whole thing.

"Is that so?" he said evenly.

"Yeah! And I'm gonna press charges!"

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Kelly's eyes went wide.

"You're gonna press charges? Against a three year old girl? I never heard anything like that."

He looked over his left shoulder at the team.

"Any of you guys ever heard anything like that?" he asked.

They all looked at one another...shaking their heads.

"That would be precedent setting..." Otis observed.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Metcalf snarled.

"You should really get your facts straight before you come here makin' threats." Kelly said. "Your kid was teasing my daughter...who's only three, by the way. He called her a baby...and she kicked him in the shins."

"Sounds like Spencer got what he deserved..." Casey observed wryly.

"You know...instead of gettin' in my face because my kids stand up to a bully...why don't you try teachin' your kids some manners?"

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Boden came out the front door...

"What's the problem here?" he wanted to know.

He'd been on a conference call with the brass and he missed all the excitement.

"No problem, Chief." Severide told him. "Sergeant Metcalf was just leaving."

"Well...he should move it along then." Boden said.

Metcalf glared at the firefighters...clearly upset to have had the wind let out of his sails. Then he turned, stalked back to his car...squeezed his massive body behind the wheel...and threw it in reverse.

He laid rubber as he peeled out of the drive.

The team just watched him go...and Otis gave him a little wave.

Then they all burst out laughing again.

"Somebody better tell me what the hell that was all about." Boden told them.

Kelly just shook his head...still chuckling all the while.

"It's quite a story, Chief." he said. "That's for sure.