Can I just say that 24 reviews for my first chapter is incredible! Thank you so very, very much to everyone who left awesome feedback, its what I going to get this fic written through the hiatus. THANK YOU!

Also I don't think the finale could have been any better, I will take whatever comes next season because we all know that it doesn't matter anymore. They are together, I care about nothing else haha.

I do hope you enjoy this next chapter, let me know what you all think! :D


Chapter 2 – Almost Everything

"I can't believe we are on an ambo together! This is going to be so much fun!" Shay wrapped her arm tightly around Gabby's shoulder, bringing her as close as possible, more excited than she ever thought she could be. Shay laughed as she and Gabby made their way into the firehouse days after the accident where she had met Chief Boden.

Shay hadn't known Gabby was coming to 51, Gabby had chosen to keep that quiet to surprise Shay when she had turned up. Needless to say, Shay had almost deafened her when she saw Gabby coming up the driveway. The rest of the firehouse shocked at the loud squeal she and given out, all of them turning to see the two girls come up the driveway.

Gabby loved the idea of being back with Shay, they had gone through training together, instantly clicking when they met and had been inseparable since that moment. "I am so happy to be back with you. I miss you..." She wrapped her arm around Shay's shoulder also, moving further into the apparatus floor where the rest of the firehouse was waiting, all of them standing around, waiting for them to come in. She needed her friends around her and being in a firehouse with both Shay and Kelly was what she needed.

As introductions were made, Hermann held out his arms for Gabby, wanting to give her a proper 51 welcome, taking her in for a hug. She had been hanging around Molly's and Shay enough to have met Herman many times before, but this was different, she was being welcomed into a family. He had even started seeing her as the daughter he never had, looking out for her at Molly's, keeping an eye on her when she was there. There was something about her from the minute they had met that made him feel protective of her. "Welcome home kiddo."

Home.

That felt good. Hearing those words from someone else in the house felt good. Her last firehouse had been terribly one sided. All of them men, each of them thinking that she wasn't capable of doing her job, they had been sexist and egotistical, and she had hated it. So when the information about a possible transfer had come past her, she had jumped at the opportunity, excited to know that she would be going to be with Shay at 51 but also excited for the chance to get out of the house she was in.

"And you know Matt Casey" Shay extended her arm toward Matt this time, who had just walked through the double door and onto the floor, his hair a bit of a mess and he looked tired and hung over. Gabby watching as he looked her way, waiting a moment then giving her a short nod of acknowledgment before turning away from her.

Clearly he really was an asshole, not just a drunk asshole like she had met that night at Molly's, he was just an asshole. Gabby didn't even get a chance to say anything before he turned on his heels and went back inside, rubbing his head as he went.

That really pissed her off. She hadn't really done anything to him that night at Molly's but she brushed it off as him just being drunk but then he was so rude and abrupt with her at the accident that she couldn't brush it off. Why the hell was he such a dick to her?

Huffing she turned to the rest of the firehouse; most having seen the exchange between Gabby and Matt but none of them saying anything; Herman the only one who had seen their exchange at Molly's a few weeks before. "Come on girl. Let's go" Shay places her arm around Gabby's shoulder again, moving her towards the rest of the house, walking her through and giving her a tours.

As Gabby got herself settled, packing away her things into her new locker, she smiled. She was happy to be with shay and for the most part everyone at the house was already so welcoming. It really did feel like home to her now. As she placed her keys down on the top shelf, movement behind her caught her attention, "Sorry Gabs but Chief is looking for you."

Gabby turned to find Kelly standing behind her, resting against the locker by her side, smile on his face as he watched her. She had met Kelly Severide before, gotten to know him well enough that she felt comfortable around him. He was like this big teddy bear, the brother she never really asked for but he was there for her when she needed it and there was a time that she had really needed him. "Thanks Kel." She smiled over at him as she closed her locker, giving him a tight hug before following him from the locker room.

"It's good to have you here Gabs," he wrapped his arms around her as they made it to the Chiefs office; he placed a kiss to her forehead, smiling as he turned away, he really was happy to have her around. He hadn't seen her in a while, but to know that she was somewhere that he could watch over her, it made him happy.

Gabby really did feel like she was at home now, she had been welcomed openly by all of the fire fighters, people she had met and some she hadn't, but they all welcomed her with a smile. Moving closer to the open door she sighed, it was clear she wasn't the only one summonsed to see the Chief.

"Thanks Casey. I do appreciate your help." Boden held out his hand to shake Matt's, a discussion between them she would never know about. Gabby cleared her throat from the doorway, letting them both know she was there, she didn't want to cut into a conversation she wasn't part of but she had been told that Boden wanted to see her.

Looking up and over Matt's shoulder, Boden smiled, Matt turning on his heels, his face straight when he noticed her standing there. "Ah Dawson. Come in, come in." He waved her into his office, sharing a looking with Matt who turned and left but not before locking eyes with Gabby, a deep stare between the two of them for a moment before he slipped passed her and out of the office.

God why did he rub her up the wrong way? She wanted to fume, wanted to call after him and ask what he hell his problem was but she wouldn't, at least not yet. "You wanted to see me Chief?" She took a seat across from him, waiting for a reply. Wanting to ignore Matt for as long as possible, she didn't want to have him upsetting her when she was finally starting to feel happy about being there.

Boden watched her for a moment, trying to gauge what she was like. Shay had been talking non-stop about her PIC friend 'Gabriella Dawson' for months, she talked about her like she was the be all and end all of paramedics so when the opportunity had come up that they needed a new PIC he had requested the department look into her. Asking specifically for the notification of the opening to make its way to her.

From what he had seen at the accident call the week before, Boden could tell she was exactly how shay had described her. "I just wanted to say welcome to 51...officially. From what I've heard, you will fit in here easily." Gabby smiled, who had been talking about her? "Leslie was not impressed I kept it from her that you were coming here...we are very happy to have you Gabriella." He stopped, Gabby following, extending his hand for her to shake. A wide smile ok both their faces.

"Thanks Chief, I am very happy to have the opportunity to be here. I look forward to working everyone." She nodded back to him, this was what she needed, this chance to change everything. She needed a change in her life, the chance to move on from the past, to forget and live her life.


Shay rested her legs against Gabby's as they sat on the couch, it was late, everyone else had gone to bed but they had been at a late call both too wired to sleep. The TV had been on low, both zoning out as they watched some reply of an old hockey game. "So tell me about what's been going on with Casey?"

Gabby smirked; she wondered how long it was going to take shay to mention Matthew Casey. Gabby could tell she had been wanting to ask about it for a while now, each time decided against asking the question, it was clear that Matthew Casey pissed Gabby off so Shay must have decided not to say something.

Until now.

It had been two weeks since Gabby had started at 51, she had however fitted in like a glove, like she had always been there, like she was part of the furniture but it was clear the tension between her and Matt hadn't gotten any better. The air would instantly change when one of them walked into the room and everyone had noticed.

Gabby groaned, "I have no idea what his problem is!" She rubbed her forehead; she wasn't sure what to tell Shay. "He is just so rude and obnoxious and arrogant and self centered-" Shays laughter caught Gabby off guard, turning towards her now supposed best friend, "What?" Gabby raised her eyebrow at Shay; she couldn't believe Shay was laughing at her.

"Nothing! Nothing. Just, it's funny because how you just described Matthew Casey is the furthest thing from the truth really. You just gotta get to know him..." Shay looked up at Gabby, her smirk falling when she say the look on her face. Gabby was not impressed with Shay, she had seen how Matt had been treating her recently so there was no way she could say that Matt wasn't everything that she had just described.

Gabby huffed, "He was a jerk when I first met him and I was close to forgiving his attitude because I knew he had been drunk but it was clear that his attitude hadn't changed towards her even when he was sober. I'm not going to get to know him ok." She crossed her arms over her chest, she would have thought Shay would have been on her side with this.

Shay sat up, looking towards Gabby, "Hey you are my best friend and I will always back you up but I also know Matt well, trust me with this ok, I don't know what is going on with him but this isn't him?" But Gabby's straight face told Shay that she wasn't having it. Matt had been a dick from the very beginning; she wasn't going to give him the time of day now.

Silence fell over them instantly; Shay going back to watching whatever was in TV but Gabby was pissed off, mostly because she was now thinking about what she had done to piss Matt off so much. If Shay didn't know what his problem was and he was acting the way he was towards her, she must have done something to piss him off. But she hadn't. Huffing, she pushed Shay's legs off her lap, heading straight to be bunkroom, it had been a long day and she was tired and she wanted sleep.


Matt moved around his office, trying to keep himself busy as he didn't want to sleep, he was tired, no doubt but all he did when he slept was dream and he didn't want to dream anymore. He wanted to be able to close his eyes and no have that memory, not have that pain anymore.

He had found that keeping himself busy was a good start with ignoring the rest of the world, he did as much work as possible to keep him entertained while on shift and he had taken up a lot of construction jobs to keep himself busy on his days off but it was the nights that were killing him, the nights where his mind would wander.

Tonight should have been one of those nights, one of those nights that would have made him lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling but instead of that, the house had been called out to a factory fire, a fully involved factory fire.

"Casey! We got someone back here! I can't get to them!" Otis' voice rung out over the raging fire, the heat licking at their backs. Matt moved closet to Otis, helping him move the beam that had fallen, trapping the person in a corner. "Come on buddy!" Otis held his hand out for the man, grabbing him instantly before dragging him from the rubble, Matt following, hot on his heals.

That was until the roof above them groaned, giving way as the flames engulfed the structure. "Get out!" Casey called, pushing Otis and the victim out the door, Matt tumbling out the doorway as well, calls of horror and fear echoing around him, subsiding when they saw him lying against the ground, his helmet rolling towards the waiting fire fighters.

Matt stood suddenly, looking over his shoulder as the canons fired water towards the building, the building he had just been in, the building that had almost taken his life. Rushing away from the outside, Matt moved towards Boden who looked angry and yet relieved. He was ok, he was fine, he didn't need to worry.

"Get Dawson to check you out."

It was all he said as he looked over his shoulder at Gabby who was waiting with her arms crossed, she looked a little relieved as well, never wanting him to get injured on the job no matter how much of a pain in the ass he was. "Chief, really I'm fine. I don't need her to check me out." Matt really didn't want Gabby to check him out, he felt fine. Honest.

But that same look crossed Boden's face as it did when he was about to explode, the same face that told you to do what he said before he gave you an earful. Dropping his shoulders, Matt begrudgingly moved towards Gabby who was waiting by the ambo, Shay checking out the patient that Otis had brought out. "Hey Otis, good save man." Matt nodded towards him, he had done a good job in that fire, spotting that man, Otis had saved his life.

"Come on, let's get you checked over." Gabby said as she pulled him towards the back step of the ambo. It had been obvious to all that they didn't get along, no one really knew why, but Gabby would make a comment about something that Matt would bite back at and visa versa, many times over the past three weeks had Gabby and Matt ended up staring each other down, their moods changing the minute the other would walk into the room.

"I'm fine Dawson." He tried to brush her off but she was just doing her job, he just didn't want her to have this over him. It was the last thing he needed was for her to have something over him.

Gabby groaned, he was such a pain in the ass, "Don't be such a baby, you've got a whole in the back of your jacket…" she placed her hand against the whole, noticing the skin underneath had been burned lightly, as she did so Matt pulled away, hissing painfully.

"What the hell Dawson?" He leaned way from her touch, sending a glance over his shoulder as she rolled her eyes.

She wanted to slap him, so high and mighty, so stubborn, why couldn't he just let her do her job? "Take your shirt off, I need to check this out." She wasn't going to let him leave without treating the burn.

When he didn't move, Gabby tugged his jacket off his shoulder, not stopping when he tried to pull away, his shirt following, she was almost turning this into a hockey fight, pulling his shirt over his head so he couldn't move. "What the fuck!?" He was getting really pissed off now, he didn't like the way she was treating him.

"Oh grow up would you Casey. There is no one around here you need to impress with you machoness so suck it up." She was losing her patience with him, just wanting to get this over with. With one final growl Matt let her do what she needed, hissing every now and then when she touched his bare skin, not happy about it at all.

After a few moments, Gabby nudged his shoulder, "See wasn't that bad." Pulling his shift back over his head, Matt just looked back at her, his look of annoyance clear to her. "Look next time I won't help you. It's ok though, you and I both know you won't accept an apology so I shouldn't have expected a thank you either." She pushed herself off the step and passed him. She was tired of his attitude towards her and didn't want to be around him anymore.


Matt smiled a sleepy smile when he felt the movement in his bed, the lit pressure against his body, the hair tickling his face, the warm breath against his cheek. Those hands rubbing against his nose, poking his cheeks lovingly.

He was happy; this made him happy. So happy that he hadn't had a single drink last night. He liked the fact that he woke up without a headache, he left right, he felt ok he like everything was going to be ok...at least for a little while.

"Come on! Get up!"

Oh that voice, he loved that voice, it was so pure, so soft and happy. He smiled again, his eyes still closed, pretending to be asleep; he knew how much she hated it when he did that.

Huffing again the voice tried again, shaking him forcefully, "Come on! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" She was whining now, her hands pushing against his shoulder, his whole body rocking against the small weight.

Oh how he loved to tease her.

"This isn't funny Uncle Matt!"

Oh how that voice changed, she was getting grumpy. Opening his eyes slowly, the harsh light too much for a moment, he smiled wider, Violet had found her way onto his bed, sitting in his chest so he couldn't roll over, he laughed. "Violet honey, it's early..." He turned his head to the side, seeing the blinking red lights of the time staring back at him.

6:08

Ok so not as early as he was expecting, considering she was only about 5 years old, he had expected her to be up much earlier than that. Lucky for him however, he was on shift today and his alarm would be going off in twenty minutes anyway.

"But you promised I go with you to see the fire trucks!" Even since he had offered to look after his niece for the day while Christy had an out of town meeting, Violet had been over the moon about spending the day with him. She loved her uncle matt. Everything was about her Uncle Matt and Matt loved it.

He loved his niece and considering the issues he and Christy had had when Violet was born, he had missed the first few years of her life, but the minute he had a chance to make it right, he was smitten with the little blond haired girl, as was she with her tall, fire fighter uncle.

He laughed; she was too cute, sitting on his chest, her purple pyjamas with horses staring back at him. Her hands found their way to his cheeks, pressings them against his face forcing him to keep his eyes open from the slight pain of her skin being pinched, "Nd w wll go when ou gt uff m..." He mumbled under the pressure of her hands, hoping she understood him.

Violet giggled happily at the funny noises her uncle was making, her hands letting up enough that he was able to grab them, rolling her onto her side, tickling her causing hysterical giggles to erupt in the room. "Stop! Uncle Matt! Stop!" She tried to push him away but he was stronger.

"Ha ha ha! Never!" He laughed as he tickled her, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried to push him off.

It didn't take long before Matt had slowed down, Violet turning the table on him, jumping on him, pushing him back on his back, laughing at the "oof" he let out as her weight landed on his stomach.

Time passed, full of laughter and screams as 6:30 rolled around, Matt's phone clicking over, music flowing through as his alarm sounded. Reaching over for his phone, Matt clicked off the sound, looking over to Violet who was still sitting on him, silence coming over them for a moment before he raised himself off the bed, lifting her into his arms and carrying her over his shoulder. "Come on crazy! Breakfast time!"

Violet laughed louder, giggling as her head hung by his back, her legs in the air, "Uncle Matt! Put me down!" But that was the wrong statement, Matt then swung her back over his shoulder, dropping her on the couch with a light thud. Violet bounced a little, a cry coming from her lips as she realised that he dropped her, she wasn't too happy about being dropped like that.

He leaned over, resting his arms on the couch cushions, trapping her between them. "Better?" He asked with a straight face.

With a strong nod, Violet replied, "Better."

"Good!" He sighed, leaning into her quickly, placing a kiss on the inside of her neck, causing her to laugh again, she was a very ticklish little girl. "Come on crazy, what do you want for breakfast?"

Hours later Matt and Violet made their down the driveway to the apparatus floor, cheers and clapping echoing as the got closer, the rest of the firehouse excited to see Violet again, the little girl holding onto her uncle tightly, excitement coming over her.

Matt had pulled the little girl onto his shoulders, holding on tightly as they walked, her arms and legs wrapped tightly around him, making sure she don't fall, his hands holding onto her legs.

"Hey! Violet Casey! Would you look at you!" Herman moved from the side of the truck, the rest of 51 following as they greeted the little girl. It had been a while since she had been to the firehouse and this we the first time she would be staying the night as well.

She giggled, suddenly shy from the attention but that disappeared when Kelly came around, her eye lighting up the minute she saw him. If there was one person who Violet loved more than matt was Kelly Severide.

From the minute she had seen him, Violet had become attached and it was clear so had Kelly. "Oh man! Look at you! You've grown so much!"

Nodding, Violet laughed, "I'm big now!" Causing the rest of the firehouse to laugh as well, she had grown up a lot since the last time they had seen her. "Uncle Matt, I'm hungry!" She wined suddenly, Matt groaning. She really did have his family's apatite, she was always hungry, he had no idea how Christy kept up with her!

"Yeah, yeah I know. Come on; let's get you inside. I'm sure Shay will be excited to see you." At the mention for Shay's name, Violet became excited again, she adored the fact that there was a girl working in the firehouse, always following shay around.

But now there were two girls in the house.

Matt thought for a second. He and Gabby had been standing off each other for the last two weeks. She had been in the house a whole month and she just pissed him off and got under his skin. She was beautiful. There was no denying that, no matter how much he didn't like the woman, but she was stunning.

Her dark brown hair, wild eyes when she fought with him, arguing over the most stupidest thing, a comment here and there and they would be staring each other down, waiting for the other one to give.

Shaking his head, Matt moved further into the firehouse, Violet chatting away with Kelly as they went, she telling him about her day care while Kelly did his best to sound interested in the ramblings of a five year old.

That was until they stepped into the common room, Violet instantly spotting shay sitting on the couch. "Leslie!" She squirmed on Matt's shoulders, fighting to get down, matt placing her down before she fell, running straight into shays arms.

"Oh my. Violet! I don't believe it. I've missed you!" The hug was tight, both girls holding onto each other. Shay had missed Violet, the little girl was adorable.

"I missed you too!" Violet was thrilled.

Matt smiled as he watched the two interact, glad that she was happy; all he ever wanted was to make that little girl happy. Moving towards the lockers, matt dropped his head, he hadn't slept as well as he would have liked, but he was going to make the best of the day because he had Violet and Violet made everything better.

As he moved further into the locker room, matt noticed Gabby sitting on the stool, bent over, hair to one side, if she didn't frustrate the him so much he would have gladly told her she was beautiful, because she was.

She just frustrated him too much.

Hearing the noise next to her, Gabby looked up, watching him for a minute before nodding her good morning, standing and brushing past him, not really wanting anything to do with him, he pissed her off and she didn't need that sort of stress that early in the morning.

Matt shook his head, he needed to stay clear, he had Violet and his job. He needed to stay clear.

Gabby moved further into the common room, she was hungry; she had been awake most of the night, her mind running a mile a minute with thoughts and fears. She really did hate nights like that. Sighing, she made her way towards the kitchen she stopped.

Dead in her tracks Gabby stopped, staring at the little girl in shays arms, staring at the little girl who seemed to innocent and happy to be there. She had wild blonde hair, bright blue eyes, wide smile.

"And this is my partner Gabby..." Somewhere in her mind Gabby hear her name, somewhere she understood the concept of this little girl smiling back at her while she stood there, staring, focused on her face. "Gabs this is Matt's niece Violet..." It was as if Shay hadn't seen the look in her face, but the rest of the firehouse had noticed the silence from Gabby, they had noticed Violet's smile fall.

This little girl only 5 years old. All she wanted was to make people happy an to make friends and here was this woman who wasn't smiling, wasn't saying a word and was just staring at her.

Violet looked back at Shay, unsure of what to do or say or what as going on. The little girl feeling very uncomfortable under Gabby's stare began to cry, thinking she had done something wrong or had done something to upset her.

Movement behind Gabby and the sound of Violet's cries brought Gabby back to reality, Matt was rushing over to Shay to take Violet, hushing her while she clung to him, crying into his shoulder. He turned towards Gabby, eyeing her with a death stare, what the Hell was her problem?

Gabby needed to get out of there, she needed fresh air, she needed to get away from the confused stares and the anger. Rushing from the common room, Gabby sucked in a deep breath as she found herself on the apparatus floor. What the hell was she doing? She never wanted to upset the little girl, but she couldn't help it. Running her hands through her hair, Gabby tried to steady her breathing.

She was angry with herself for how she acted and angry that Violet was upset, she just hoped that Matt left it alone because she didn't know if she could handle dealing with him.


Gabby sighed as she rested her back against the cool tiles, her head thumping lightly as her groaned, the cool water rushing over her body, her hair sticking to her cheeks. Her earlier fight with matt had pissed her off, worse it had scared her. And she hated it. She knew she had upset Violet and it wasn't her intention to but she had just panicked, her mind rushing a mile a minute as she stared at that little girl.

Had she deserved to be confronted by what had happened? Of course, if that were anyone else who had done the same to her niece or nephew she would have done the same thing but matt had blown up. His face had turned red as his voice rose, his arms outstretched above his head.

"What the hell is your problem Dawson?"

At first Gabby didn't know what he was talking about. She had taken up residence on her bunk, just trying to relax and to stay away from the large group. She wasn't in the best mood, she hadn't slept all that well and after what had happened that morning with Violet, she decided it best if she stay away, let the little girl enjoy her time with her uncle and her friends.

But as she lay against her bed, her eyes closed, trying to block out the sounds around her, matt had stormed into the bunk room, furry coming off him in waves. She had sat up quickly, frightened by the sudden noise, she hadn't been expecting.

But Matt didn't let her speak before he continued. "She is 5 years old! All she wanted to do was say hello and you made her cry. What the hell is wrong with you?"

This time Gabby did speak, standing suddenly she confronted him, "Take a step back Casey ok. I didn't mean to upset her-" but she didn't get much further, he hadn't taken a step back, in fact he had taken a step forward.

Matt raised his arms in the air, pointing his finger towards her, "Ithink you need to get off your fucking high horse and stop acting like a princess! She a child and maybe you should start acting like an adult!"

Gabby didn't know what was worse, his raised hand in the air or that name, that name that should been used as a term of endearment was tumbling from his lips. But she did know she flinched, she moved away from her, turning her head away at those words.

"Get the Hell over-" Matt stopped short, watching as she cringed under his look and anger. It was not how he thought she would have reacted, she looked scared, terrified of him. Dropping his hand quickly, he could see her hands shaking, her whole body trying to calm down from whatever had scared her. "Gabby?" He wasn't sure what to do or what to say but that didn't matter, Gabby suddenly pushed past him, her head down as she walked straight to the side door, taking her outside and out of view.

Matt watched her go, confused as to what had happened but he was still so angry with her, she was acting like a child and he was furious that she had upset Violet the way she had. Shaking his head Matt huffed, moving back towards the common room, needing to make sure that Violet was ok.

"Hey princess..."

Gabby's eyes shot open instantly, her heartbeat increasing tenfold as she looked around the small stall, part of her expecting to be greeted by another person. But she was alone. She was still alone, in that bathroom, in that shower stall, she was alone.

Listening for a moment, thinking maybe she had heard something, maybe she has made it up, Gabby sighed, there was nothing else, no other voices or sounds. Then came the sound of someone rustling outside the stall, she reached for her towel wrapping it around her body, fear taking over her body, she hadn't heard anyone coming into the bathroom so the noises concerned her.

She didn't care that she was in the firehouse or that she was naked under that towel, she didn't care that anyone could have walked in on her at any point in time, she just needed to find that voice. Pulling open the curtain she looked around, her hands still shaking from fear, swallowing thickly as she tried to find the courage to move into what she thought had been an empty room. Stepping out slowly, gabby found no one in the bathroom except her and so with one foot placed slowly in front of the other, she walked closer to the entrance, water dripping down her legs, pooling around her feet, her hair plastered to her face, droplets of water rushing down her chest.

"Over here princess..."

That voice; she had heard it again, her heartbeat increasing as she turned the corner, unsure of what she would find, unsure of what she would if she found something. As her whole body rounded the corner, Gabby bumped into the chest of someone coming the other way, their hands reaching out to steady her, Gabby's wild eyes staring back at the tall man in front of her.


Wow now, that was a long chapter...worth the wait? I really do hope you guys don't mind the time jumps.

Please review!