Chapter 2

Four days later, they piled into Troy and Leah's SUV – minus the car seats – and headed toward the city. Leah had again provided an ensemble for Annie, this time a bias-cut tank with a few spots of sequins over skinny jeans topped off with a motorcycle jacket. She wore the tall boots again. And the perfume. They'd allowed Auggie to get away with dark blue jeans and a button down with a v-neck sweater.

He and Annie had climbed into the back, leaving Max and Sam in the middle. He tried to relax as they drove; he'd even taken a shot of Patrón back at the house, but this never really got any easier. Most times, he played the role of willing partygoer fairly well, he thought, but the idea of a crowded bar and God knows how many people he didn't know unnerved him more than usual tonight. And he knew he'd handle it all with much less anxiety if he was at least a little tipsy.

Annie knew, too. Her hand found his as he started to pick at a string on his coat. "We can leave earlier than the others if you want. We're going to stop at the hotel first, so we can even stay there."

He loved her for that but shook his head. "It's fine. I'll be fine." She wasn't missing out on New Year's with everyone because crowds still made him squirrelly. He knew he hadn't been too terribly convincing, but she also knew enough to leave it alone.

After checking into their hotel rooms and dropping off overnight bags, they grabbed a cab out front and headed to the bar – a quaint little place called Molly's. Max texted Jeff just before they arrived, and he was waiting for them out front. Music wafted into the street as the door opened every now and then as Max made introductions.

"These are my brothers Troy and Auggie, Troy's wife Leah, Auggie's fiancée Annie, and my fiancé Sam."

Clarke nodded. "Glad you all could make it." He tipped his head toward the door. "Shall we?" The group voiced their agreement and followed Jeff into the bar.

"This door is beautiful," Leah mused as they stepped through the entryway. "Oh! What a great space," she exclaimed as she entered.

There were about 50 people on the inside, mostly work buddies and their friends, at the private party. Auggie gripped Annie's arm a little more tightly as they moved through the room.

"Why don't we find a table and then we can branch out from there?" Annie suggested to the others.

Max spotted an empty spot at the back of the bar that would accommodate them all and secured it. They shrugged out of coats as a man and woman approached the table. Jeff turned to introduce the Anderson crew to Matt Casey and Gabby Dawson. They soon learned that Dawson was a paramedic and one of the bar's owners and that she and Casey, a Chicago FD Lieutenant, had arrived together and were announcing their relationship publicly for the first time.

Max and Jeff left to grab the first round of drinks while Sam, Troy, and Leah fell into easy conversation with the other couple. Annie leaned against Auggie's arm.

"You look about as calm as a caged tiger," she whispered. "Try to relax."

"I am trying," he hissed back.

"Then maybe don't try so hard?" she reasoned. She tried to take his mind off of things by describing their surroundings. "This place is great. Not too big but roomy, and the number of people isn't overwhelming. Everyone's milling around, mingling. But I guess most everyone knows each other, right?

"The bar wraps almost all the way around the far wall, and the ceiling is exposed beams with what looks like thousands of icicle lights. It practically glows in here. There are mirrored cabinets with glass doors behind the bar where they have glasses and bottles lined up on display. It has a real vintage but hip feel. We need a place like this at home. This puts Allen's to shame," she concluded. She felt Auggie's taut muscles loosen a little beneath her hands, but he kept his jaw clenched tightly. "Do you want me to see where Max is with your drink?"

He took a couple of deep breaths and closed his eyes as he exhaled. "It's okay." He needed her to stay beside him.

She hadn't seen him this rattled in a long time, and he'd been fine last week when they went out with Ben Rosen and his wife. She craned her neck to see if Max and Clarke were making any progress on the drinks. She finally found them at the bar, seemingly deep in conversation. She sat back and rubbed Auggie's arm. "They'll be here soon," she hoped.

"Your younger brother, the one who wrestled…" started Jeff as he and Max waited for the bartender – a temp for the evening so all the owners could enjoy the festivities – prepared their drinks.

"Iraq," Max finished for him.

"Shit."

"Yeah."

"How's he doing?" Clarke inquired.

"He's managed to make a good life for himself." Max shot a glance back toward his brother. Auggie hadn't seemed as sure of himself this evening as he had during their other interactions over the past two months. Max realized yet again how little he knew about his brother.

"He looks a little peaked tonight," Clarke pointed out, wanting to believe Max's story, but the visual evidence seemed to prove otherwise.

Max nodded. "He and Annie were on vacation in Central America before they got here. He ended up with dengue and a week-long hospital stay. He's only up to about half speed right now."

"Okay," Clarke conceded. "And Annie. Did he, um, know her before?"

"No. They met a couple of years afterward and just got engaged at Thanksgiving."

"Hm." Clarke accepted a tray of drinks from the bartender.

Max grabbed the rest. "They're good together."

"Coming back is hard," Jeff mused as they started toward the table. "I'm glad you've both found someone who understands all of that," he finished wistfully.

They arrived at the table before Max could reply to that. They were met by Kelly Severide, a Lieutenant on the same Rescue Squad as Jeff and Leslie Shay, another paramedic in their house. Clarke again passed out drinks and introductions as Severide took the seat beside Auggie.

"Clarke, we weren't sure you actually had any friends, but these people all look nice and normal. You're holding out on us," Kelly ribbed.

Jeff smiled but didn't say anything.

"Are you guys all Marines, too?" Shay asked with a mischievous grin.

"I'm Navy – mostly retired," Max answered. "Auggie was Army. Sam's sometimes an embedded journalist, Leah gave up cleaning teeth to stay home with her kids, Annie cleans dinosaur teeth at the Smithsonian, and Troy was in a frat," he finished with a smile.

That brought a laugh from the table. "I hate to break up your comedy routine, Max," Troy interjected, "But there are no fraternities at Notre Dame." This drew an even bigger laugh.

"So you still haven't convinced us that you didn't rent these people for the evening, Clarke," Severide continued.

"Max and I knew each other in high school. And he has a lot of brothers," was Jeff's final answer.

"We do tend to roll in packs," Auggie added. He'd downed most of his beer as soon as he'd gotten his hands on it. He could feel it and the tequila warming him, breaking through some of the anxiety. He both appreciated and despised that realization.

Annie couldn't help but notice Severide's eyes examining her, and he didn't look away when she caught him. "Are you two also an item?" she asked him, motioning to Shay who had moved over beside Sam.

"I'm not exactly her type," he noted, eyes still fixed on Annie.

"And what would that be?"

"Her type?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you. But less put together." Severide grinned, and even though he annoyed her a bit, she couldn't deny his brazen charm.

"I heard that, Kelly," Shay called from across the table.

His attention finally wrested from Annie, Kelly turned to Auggie. "So, you were Army. What are you now?"

"Blind." Auggie said without thinking.

Severide opened his mouth and nothing else came out for a few seconds before coughing out a couple of words. "Oh, I mean…"

Auggie chuckled as Annie jabbed him in the side. "Sorry, Man. That wasn't fair, but it gets people every time."

Kelly took a drink of his beer. "I can imagine."

"I'm in web developing and network security these days," Auggie offered.

"So you're the IT guy."

"Something like that."

"And did you know Clarke growing up or just your brother?"

Auggie shrugged. "Apparently we wrestled together, but I don't remember him. Although I could pin him and see if he feels familiar."

Kelly, and Shay and Sam who had drifted back into their part of the conversation, found this quite amusing.

After a few more minutes of small talk, Severide stood and placed his hand on Auggie's shoulder. "You're alright, Anderson. Even if Clarke did find you on the street somewhere."

They shook hands and Annie gave him a nod and a polite smile as he moved on to another table. Shay stuck around a little bit longer, demanding to know where Annie had gotten every piece of her outfit, before she also trailed off. First Dawson, and then Casey, who had already made another lap around the bar together migrated over to take the places their colleagues had just left.

"I usually feel the need to apologize to strangers for whatever Severide just said or did. I hope that's not the case," Casey greeted them with a grin.

"And if not him, then Shay," Dawson added.

"They weren't too badly behaved," Annie offered.

"And we can hold our own," Auggie revealed.

"Good." Casey smiled again, his face warm and inviting. Annie noticed that Dawson had barely left his side all night. New love, she assumed. "Can I get you guys another round?" Casey asked, holding up his own empty glass.

Annie glanced at her own nearly finished drink and knew that Auggie's bottle had long been drained. "I think we're ready for another, but this one's on us." She stood from her seat. "And Gabby and I will make the bar run." As she moved by Auggie and then behind Matt Casey, she noted the still healing incision that was still visible through his short, light hair. The edge extended slightly past his hairline down his neck as well. Gabby smiled at him as she also stood, kissing Matt's cheek just before she joined Annie at the bar.

"I'm kind of smitten," Gabby confessed after they'd put in their drink orders.

"Don't worry. It only shows a little, and it's pretty cute. But how can you watch him run into burning buildings?"

"I try not to watch."

"And how's that working out for you?" Annie asked.

"Not well," Gabby admitted. They both laughed.

Annie leaned against the bar. "How long ago was his surgery?"

Gabby swallowed hard. "You saw that?"

"I'm pretty observant."

"Four weeks ago. He's still not back to work." Gabby reached for a cocktail napkin left on the bar and started ripping it into little strands.

"I didn't know Auggie before, so I didn't have to put up with him being gone and not knowing if he'd come back. I definitely don't envy you that," Annie confided.

"It would be nice to know Matt was safely in an office somewhere, I guess, but then he wouldn't be him." Gabby shrugged as she continued to demolish the napkin.

"Or he'd just be a new version of him." Annie spoke so softly she almost didn't hear her own words.

"Oh, God. I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" Gabby dropped the ball of paper onto the bar's surface.

"It's okay. And there's plenty of danger to go around when he crosses the street by himself." Annie gave Gabby a sad little smile. "He used to live a very different life than he does now, and most days he's okay with it, but it took a long time to get there."

"Having someone special in his life must help," Gabby assumed.

Annie sighed. "Not always. We work together, and sometimes my responsibilities are ones that would have been his before. He enjoys his job now, and he's a wealth of information, but I know that being with me isn't always easy for him in that regard."

Gabby shook her head and smiled. "I'm so glad you're here tonight, Annie."

"Why's that?"

"I'm starting at the Fire Academy next week. I'm going to be a firefighter, and even before, Matt didn't love the idea. But now…"

"He'll be cleared to go back to work, though. Right?"

Gabby nodded. "Yeah. But he'll still worry."

Annie shrugged. "If he loves you, he worries already. Just give him time. And don't expect him to be your only means of support. Hearing about the things that worry or concern you that he can't do anything about will only frustrate him more." Annie wished she could tell Gabby the truth about her and Auggie. "And that is amazing, by the way. Good for you!"

"I keep thinking maybe I'm a little, or a lot, crazy."

Annie grinned, genuinely excited for Gabby. "Probably, but it's exciting nonetheless."

The bartender handed them their drinks – club soda for the still recovering Casey and beer for Auggie, who was putting it away far too fast to be trusted with liquor.

"Your girl seems great," Casey started as he watched Annie and Gabby walk toward the bar. He knew Gabby had been sticking close by tonight, and he appreciated it, but it was nice to have a little breathing room, too.

"Yours too," Auggie reciprocated.

"She's hovering a little tonight."

"Oh yeah?"

Matt chided himself for opening this conversation, but his mouth had been working a little bit independently of his brain recently. "I, um, was injured a few weeks ago. I'm not quite where I need to be yet."

"What'd you hurt?" Auggie couldn't detect any differences in Casey's movements compared to the others.

"My head."

"Ah, well." Auggie wished he had a drink right now.

"Sorry, I'm not sure why I brought that up."

Auggie shrugged. "You think this is the first time some guy's come up to me in a bar and asked how long it's going to take until he feels normal again?"

"Is it?"

"Well, not in so many words usually, but sometimes I feel like I should be serving drinks and collecting tips." Casey chuckled and Auggie smiled. "My answer isn't any different from what anyone else is telling you, though. It takes time. And you have to take it slow."

Casey nodded. "I think it's the waiting that's driving me crazy, but if I push it at all, I'm just back where I started."

"What's bothering you the most?" He recalled his own conversations with Ben Rosen on the same subject.

"There are gaps in my days – then, now even." Casey's voice wavered a bit at this revelation.

Auggie nodded. "You're used to being able to trust your body, and you can't right now. But you can't rush it. Believe me, I know how much you want to fix it and get things back to the way they were. But the more you fight here, the further under you slip."

"Like quicksand," mused Casey.

"That's a pretty accurate comparison." Auggie placed his forearms on the table.

"How did Annie deal with that?"

"I met her a lot later. Which isn't to say there aren't times now when I'm overwhelmed, but it isn't the same as right afterward." Auggie turned the focus back to Matt. "You have to tell Gabby what you need from her, but she also has to know what doesn't help. One of the most important lessons I learned was that people are willing to do whatever they can, but they can't read your mind."

"Thanks. Just seeing you sitting here, not sweating and ready to jump out of your seat makes me think there's hope," Casey sighed.

Auggie laughed and shook his head. "You should have seen me about 15 minutes ago."

TBC

A/N: Hey, the gang's all here! Thanks so much for the reviews. I'm mapping this one out now, so your ideas can definitely shape where we go from here.