Casey was a light sleeper, especially since he had been living alone. He was also used to getting up early and he rarely slept in. He always thought it had something to do with his job; he was constantly on alert. Not to mention that the house was old so the floors and stairs creaked and the door knobs were squeaky. He heard her the minute she opened her bedroom door. He thought she might have to use the bathroom, but then he heard her go down the stairs.

He could navigate the halls and stairs without making much noise and she was too distracted with her own thoughts to realize she had woken him up. Casey wasn't sure if he was curious or worried, maybe both. He stopped a couple stairs down and watched her.

She was in the living room sitting on the bay window ledge and staring out into the empty street watching the sun rise. She had her knees curled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. Even from the staircase he could see her crying a bit.

He descended down the stairs and crossed the distance from the bottom of the stairs to the living room rather quickly. He was quiet and she didn't notice him until he was only a few feet away. She stared at him for a moment before wiping at her tear streaked face. Casey sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms.

"What's wrong Gracie?" He asked as he rested his chin on the top of her head. "Come on sweetheart, talk to me."

"I'm scared." She mumbled into his chest with fresh tears falling.

"You've got nothing to be scared about. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

She was silent for a few moments before speaking again. "We lied to you."

Casey frowned and pulled back a little to look down at her. "About what?"

"About Mom," She said with a pause. "And Dad."

His frown only deepened. "What's going on?"

"Mom finally kicked Dad out about three months ago when she decided to get sober. She was doing well until he called. He told her he wasn't using anymore, had a steady job and that he missed us. So she went to meet him for dinner and was gone all night with him. They came home together drunk and he was all beat up from some bar fight over drugs. He needed a place to stay and she gave it to him. It went back to the way it's always been and we couldn't take it anymore so Jake and I left."

"What do you mean you left?"

"We packed up all our stuff one night and took off in her car. They were on another bender and we had a good twelve hour start when she first called."

"You drove here?" Casey exclaimed. "That's a thirty hour drive, how did you get the money?"

"We both worked this summer and we saved because we were planning it."

"Planning to leave?"

She nodded. "They were never going to change. You don't know how bad it got sometimes."

"Why didn't you just call me and tell me then?"

"We tried," she said. "We figured you'd talk us out of it but if we showed up in Chicago maybe you'd see how desperate we were to get away."

"So how did your Mom get out here?"

"She flew out here and met us at the hotel. She showed up and we knew she was probably drunk or high but she actually broke down. She said she ruined everything and all her progress and she wanted to get help this time. She told us you were going to help and begged us to get in the car."

"It's not your fault," Casey stated simply. "I don't know why you just didn't tell me all that in the first place."

"I didn't want you to know how bad it was, but after I saw Jake," Grace looked away again.

"Hey, look at me," He said and waited for her to meet his gaze. "I'm here to protect you, not the other way around. I need to know what's going on to do that."

"Jake's afraid that she'll take off with him again." She paused again. "I'm afraid he'll try to get us taken away from you."

"I won't let that happen." Casey pulled her back into a hug, resting his chin on the top of her head and hugging her tightly against his chest. "How about we go get Jake and then get some breakfast?"

They both went back upstairs to get ready for the day. Casey was ready rather quickly and although Grace was quicker than most mornings, she was still pretty slow. Casey forgot how long it took teenage girls to get ready. He figured the cut and bruising on her face didn't help her self-esteem either.

She had nothing to worry about, she was a beautiful girl. She had long golden brown hair with hazel eyes and had an athletic build. She had the Casey personality, but she looked like her Dad. Jake on the other hand had Casey written all over him. With the blonde hair, blue eyes and lean muscle-build, he looked a lot like Matt did at his age.

She finally stumbled down the stairs wearing jeans and a black zip up sweater with a white tank top underneath. Her hair was straightened and she had put make-up on to cover up the bruises and try to draw attention to her eyes by wearing a little extra mascara.

Casey had seen many teenage girls wearing very thick make-up and he didn't like it. He was glad she didn't wear her make-up like that but even the small amount she had on was bothering him. He wasn't used to her looking so much older and mature.

"Are we going to the diner that paramedic slash firefighter works at?" She tried to ask casually.

Casey tried to hide his smile. She fully knew what his name was and now he understood why it took her so long to get ready. "Peter Mills? Yeah, we could go there. Do you want to go there?"

She shrugged. "I guess."

"Alright, let's go."

Casey tried to hide another smile as he grabbed his keys and walked towards the door. They arrived at the hospital a little early and Casey went to fill out the release forms. Jake was getting a final check -up so that left Grace standing outside in the hall alone. Their mother had already left for rehab and wouldn't be allowed visitors for two weeks, which didn't bother either twin as they didn't really feel like talking to her just yet.

"Hey Grace," Grace looked up to see Hallie smiling at her. "How are you?"

Grace smiled back, she had always liked Hallie. "I'm good, you?"

"I'm good, thanks. I heard about what happened, how are you doing?"

Grace shrugged. "We should be okay now that Matt is helping."

She nodded. "So you're staying with him while your mom is in rehab then?"

"Yeah, Jake is getting released so we're going out for breakfast."

"Well if you need anything or need a girl to talk to," She smiled again. "Matt and I aren't together but I'll still be here for you if you need me."

"Thanks Hallie, I appreciate it. I'm sure there will be things I can't talk to Matt about or things he won't want to do with me, like shopping."

"Well anytime you want to have a shopping date just give me a call." Hallie laughed. "I've got to get back to rounds, feel better."

Grace smiled and nodded as she walked away. She turned back and saw Casey coming towards her with the paperwork. He stopped in front of her watching Hallie walk away before looking at her. "Ready to go?"

The doctor came out and took the forms from Casey as a nurse emerged with an unhappy Jake in a wheel chair. "They won't let me walk."

"Hospital policy, bud." Casey grinned walking alongside him. "We were thinking about going out for breakfast."

"Oh thank God, the only thing worse than hospital food is Grace's cooking." Jake joked, nudging his sister.

"Well good thing Uncle Matt can cook then." She smiled back at him.

They walked into the dinner and Grace smiled at Elise who was serving an elderly couple in the booth beside the door. She looked behind the counter and smiled a little brighter when she saw Peter Mills. He smiled back and Casey noticed the exchange and nodded to Mills. They grabbed a booth towards the back and Mrs. Mills came up behind Casey just as he was sliding in beside Grace.

"Lt. Casey, Grace," She smiled warmly and turned to Jake. "This is the brother I presume?"

Jake nodded. "Yes mam."

She smiled and turned to Casey. "They are both extremely polite. You don't see that as much now days with the younger generation. It's nice to know there are still some with manners."

"They know to mind their manners." Casey nodded. "How are you Mrs. Mills?"

"I'm sure they do with someone like you in their life and I'm doing just fine dear. How are all of you?"

"We're getting along." He smiled. "I might need the whole station to keep an eye on these two though."

"Anytime you need anything you just let me know."

"I will, thank you."

She smiled and nodded at him. "I'll get Elise to take your order."

Elise came and took the order quickly as they were busy, much to Grace's disappointment as she was hoping Mills would come over and visit. The food arrived and Casey caught her several times watching Mills. He tried not to laugh or tease her but watching a teenage girl with a hopeless crush was just too entertaining.

"I thought you liked Severide?" He leaned down and whispered.

She shrugged. "He's old now."

"We're the same age!" Casey said with shock at being declared old in the eyes of his niece.

"Yeah, old." She grinned back at him and he just shook his head not able to keep the smile off his face. "Well that was never going to go anywhere, he's too much older, but Mills is closer to my age."

"Not that much closer sweetheart." He said a little serious. "He's too old for you too."

"Oh let her have her harmless inappropriate crushes," Jake said. "She liked our history teacher last semester and she got over it. It's a chick thing to go after the older guys."

Casey just grinned at his nephew. "Both of you eat. We have a long day ahead of us."

"Doing what?"

"We need to get you moved in, enrolled in school and get you school supplies. I go back to work tomorrow and school starts next week so this needs to be taken care of today."

"Well we can move our stuff in when you're at work tomorrow." Jake said.

"No you can't, you'll be coming with me."

"Uncle Matt we aren't five," Grace said as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm well aware of how old you are. I was there." He looked at her. "Don't roll your eyes at me."

"We can stay at home by ourselves is what she meant." Jake explained.

"I know what she meant, the answer is no. The only way I know you'll be safe is to have you at the station with me so that is where you'll be. End of discussion."