Season 6 Episode 7 A Man's Legacy

The problem with having as many windows as he did, it was hard to shut out the outside noise. Especially when he left a few strategic windows open.

He heard a car drive up into the parking lot on their side of the building. Dropping his legs off the side of the bed he walked to the windows and looked down. He didn't have to worry about anyone seeing him, his bedroom was dark, all the lights off.

Oh, he hadn't exactly been sleeping. He'd been plagued with images of Stella in that dress. Tiny shoulder straps, that fabric that begged to be touched, the slit… that slit should be illegal in public.

Letting out a pent-up breath he heard one car door open and then the other.

"Come on, Stell… you're suppos'd to let me open your door for you."

"You're supposed to be sober when you drive."

Kelly stepped to the other window to get a better look. Whatever his name was had to use a hand on the hood of the car to keep his balance.

He saw Stella manage to swing her legs out of the car and grab onto the frame. Her legs looked incredible in the lights around the parking lot, long and curved up toward her hips, disappearing into her dress.

"Come on, baby." He made a grab for the door but ended up almost closing it on her.

Kelly swore under his breath. If the asshole started to get handsy-

"I told you," Stella had her hand on the door, pressing it outward and using it like a barricade while she got up out of the car.

Turning away for a moment, Kelly tried to avoid staring down the neckline of her dress. It was likely too dark to see anything, but he wasn't a perv. He wasn't so sure about this 'radio guy.'

"Come on, Stella. Give me another kiss."

Kelly leaned so close to the windows he felt the cold glass against his forehead.

Stella had her back up against the car, her hand against the man's chest.

Mitch. The name was suddenly in his head.

"I never gave you a first kiss, Mitch."

See? At least now he knew the asshole's name for the police report when he kicked his ass.

Pulling away from the window, Severide didn't even bother looking for his shoes. Shirtless and wearing his long cotton sleep-pants, he started for his bedroom door.

"Mitch, I said stop."

"Hey-" a loud thud brought Severide back to the window and he looked down into the half-dark parking lot.

Mitch was doubled over the hood of his car, his face pulled tight in a grimace. "What the hell did you do that for?"

Stella bent down to pick up her purse from the ground and Kelly saw her dress pull tight around her backside. Yeah, these cotton pants weren't going to do a thing to help hide exactly what she was doing to him.

She stood back up and gave Mitch a look that he knew all too well. You don't piss off Stella Kidd. Not if you want to live for long. "I told you no. You didn't listen. You got my knee. If you'd like I can call an ambo for you, but they're going to ask why your balls are tangled up in your intestines. So that'll mean a call to PD. And I'm sure there's at least one reporter listening to the 911 calls tonight, who'll want to know why 'Mitch in the Morning' got his nuts cracked by a woman who didn't want him slobbering all over her."

There was a strange silence that fell over the parking lot and Kelly felt like he could almost hear Mitch's breath hiss out from between his lips. "Just leave me here to die."

Stella drew in a breath and then let it go on a sigh. "Good choice, Mitch. Good night. And if you see me at the gym, stay the hell away from me."

"No problem… oh god that hurts…"

"Suck it up, Mitch." Stella walked away from the car. "I could have used my heels."

#

Kelly had a few minutes to decide was he was going to do. Stay in his room, or go outside and check on her.

He was debating when the apartment door opened and he heard Stella drop her keys on the table beside the door, and before he knew what he was doing, he was walking out into the living room. "Hey."

She looked up at him and put a smile on.

He really hated it when she did that. He liked it when she wasn't trying to pretend.

"Hey, Kelly, did I wake you?"

His lips pressed together and he shook his head. "No. I was…" he looked at her and said the first thing that came to his mind, "thirsty."

"Okay," she smoothed a hand over her dress in a nervous gesture that didn't seem to fit her normal personality. She was tentative, and almost unsure of herself. "Well, I should get some sleep."

She took a few tentative steps away and he couldn't help but watch the swish her of hem over the back of calf, almost to her knee. Why did she have to be so-

"Stella?"

She stopped and turned back. "Yeah?"

"You look amazing in that dress."

The slightest of smiles touched the corners of her mouth and her face was transformed from melancholy to sweet and heart-breakingly beautiful?

"Thanks."

She smoothed a hand down her hip and over her thigh it was a sub-conscious gesture, he was sure of it, but it drew his eyes and tugged open the slit so Kelly got more than an eyeful of the toned length of her thigh.

He had to pull his gaze away or this little late night meeting was going to get real revealing in ways he wasn't ready for.

"You, ah," he nodded toward her bedroom, "going to turn in?"

She shrugged. "I guess so." Her gaze moved over his face. "You?"

He shrugged, unable to take his eyes off of her. "I could get some sleep."

"Okay."

She looked away and turned toward her room and Kelly almost groaned out loud, every time she moved the moonlight coming through the window painted every single one of her curves in silver light. He was going to have a hell of a time getting any sleep tonight.

"Kelly?"

"Yeah?" He let out a breath in relief, his voice was almost even.

"You think you can help me with my zipper?"

Does he think… dear god this was torture! What had he done that put him the firing line of this kind of karma?

She walked closer and turned her back to him, lifting her hand she swept her hair forward over her shoulder to leave her back bare. The zipper started in the middle of her back, just south of her shoulder blades and ended down at the lower curve of her back.

"Kelly?"

"Yeah-" his voice was more than a little strained, "I got this."

He pinched the zipper between his fingers and pulled it down. This wasn't a normal situation for him. Sure, he'd pulled down his share of zippers in his time, but doing this for a woman he wasn't about to sleep with, was making him all kinds of nervous.

Inch by frustrating inch, he felt the zipper give-way and his knuckle was so close to her skin he was sure he could feel her warmth even though he wasn't touching her.

As he fought to keep his heartrate from going through the roof, he couldn't help but focus on two important facts: 1) Stella wasn't wearing a bra and 2) when he finished, bottoming out the zipper, there was a very good possibility that she was wearing a something black and silky on bottom.

Yeah, there was no way he was getting out of this without making a total fool of himself.

"All done?"

Her voice was so soft and almost purred from her lips.

He was definitely going to hell.

"Yeah, yeah…" he let out a breath, "I'm done."

Stella looked back over her shoulder and smiled. "Thanks, Kelly. 'Night."

She walked straight to her room, her hips swaying slowly, her hair slowly fanning across her back, and the moment before she turned the corner he saw one of those ridiculously skinny straps slipped off of her shoulder and nearly dropped him to his knees.

It was a long while before he could make his legs work and even when he got back to his room, he laid awake half the night replaying every second over and over in his head.

Stella might be working her way through the single assholes of Chicago, but the only woman on his mind… was her.