Chicago Fire fanfiction
Chapter 8 -
This chapter will deal with sensitive material, it could be triggering so please approach with caution.
Ebony had decided that she needed to take a walk and clear her head. She ignored the questioning looks she received as she left the house, aside from Dawson who had stood directly in her path.
"Have you seen Shay?" Dawson asked, concern dominating her tone.
"No. Is she not here?" Ebony asked raising an eyebrow, wasn't she supposed to be on shift?
"Nope." Dawson shook her head. "She's hasn't shown up or even called the chief. I'm worried, she's not picking up my calls."
Ebony tried to continue on her but Dawson grabbed her by the arm, causing her to pull away sharply in defence. "Don't touch me." Ebony snarled.
"Ebony, I'm sorry." Dawson tried to backtrack but Ebony was defiant.
"You have no right to touch me." The venom in her voice was uncharacteristic but was laced with panic also.
"Ebs?" Kelly called from the other end of the corridor, uncertain of what he had just witnessed.
In the brief moment that Kelly and Ebony locked eyes, he could see through her anger at being grabbed and saw the fear in her eyes. Suddenly, he felt like he had been hit by a brick wall. He knew that look, that was the look he would see whenever Benny threatened to punish her. The aversion to touch and fear it generated, surely that didn't mean what he thought it did?
But before Kelly could ask Ebony about it, his sister had fled from the firehouse. Leaving him only Dawson to ask for an explanation. "What was that all about?"
"I was asking her about whether she had seen Shay or not." Dawson said quietly, looking at the spot Ebony had previously occupied.
"And that meant you grabbed her?" Kelly's nostrils flared slightly as he demanded an answer from the paramedic.
"Kelly, I'm sorry that I startled her but…" Dawson tried to apologise but was interrupted by Kelly.
"What. Happened. Dawson." Kelly punctuated through gritted teeth.
"She was trying to leave, wasn't listening to me." Dawson responded, looking at the floor.
"SO YOU GRABBED HER!?" Kelly shouted. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU DAWSON?"
"KELLY!" Boden shouted above Kelly to stop his young lieutenant from lashing out, the commotion had started to draw a crowd. "Enough."
Boden didn't have time to even reach the pair before Kelly stormed off outside and Dawson made herself scare. He stood in the corridor, pinching the bridge of his nose in contemplation and frustration. He sighed heavily and was met by the equally contemplative face of Christopher Herrmann.
"We need to help the pair of them." He commented softly. "Sure there were problems between them, after all they are siblings, but I don't remember it ever being this bad."
"I know Chris. I just don't know where to start." Boden looked out towards the front of the fire house through the apparatus doors and saw Kelly leaning heavily against the fence. "There's something bigger going on here."
"What do you mean chief?" Herrmann probed, he'd always had a soft spot for the siblings and at one point he had even seen them as an extension of his own family. He'd babysat for Kelly when he'd needed a break, comforted the kid when she'd had a nightmare and had even been there when she graduated high school.
"I'm not sure yet." The chief checked for eavesdroppers before continuing. "Something has stirred in Ebony since she saw Benny the other night. It's dredged something up that she's kept hidden from the rest of us, even Kelly."
"What is your gut telling you chief?"
"I'm praying that my gut is wrong." Boden sighed, "Because if it is correct, this will devastate Kelly."
Herrmann looked at his friend as he followed his chain of thought and he too hoped that their theory was incorrect. "What do we do?" Herrmann asked again, wanting to share the worry and help the siblings.
"They need to talk it out but they also need to both calm down first. Leave it with me." Boden nodded his head and retreated back to his office, leaving Herrmann standing in the corridor looking out at a brooding Kelly.
Sometime later, Herrmann knocked on Kelly's door. He looked down at the young lieutenant and in that moment the boundaries between rank melted away and Herrmann comforted Kelly.
"Why is this so much harder than it was before she left?" Kelly sighed.
"You've been away from each other for 3 years Kelly. You've both changed." Herrmann began to explain as he perched on Kelly's desk.
"Does she not need me anymore?" Kelly sighed again with dejection.
"Kelly, she'll always need you." Herrmann supported. "Give it time and you'll re-establish the relationship you guys had."
"Thanks Herrmann."
"I think you're forgetting some of the more difficult times you had with Ebony. It wasn't all plain sailing for you." Herrmann commented, sympathising with the younger man. "The chief and I had to step in and mediate a number of times."
"The difference then was that I was the one causing the difficulties. Ebony was innocent in 99% of it." Kelly explained. "She was so quiet back then, barely said a word or uttered a complaint. Now she's the one with the problem."
"What's she been saying?" Herrmann probed Kelly gently.
Kelly looked behind Herrmann to ensure their privacy before continuing. "She arrived back in Chicago without telling me for a start. Then she saw Benny and flipped out."
"That's not a surprise. He has been absent since that girl came into your care, he's the reason you had to take on caring for your sister." Herrmann reasoned.
"It's something more than that. She hates him Herrmann." Kelly emphasised the word hate. "She keeps mentioning things that I've never heard before."
"Like what?" Herrmann wondered if he knew what Kelly was getting at, he'd suspected it himself a number of times since he had met Ebony.
"That I was the favourite and that he bullied her?" The confliction on Kelly's face was as plain as day. Kelly had been so angry when Benny had abandoned them without a care in the word, but he'd idolised the man before that and still had considerable respect for him. Truth be told, he'd enjoyed getting back in touch with his father over the last couple of years.
"You don't think Benny stayed away because of Ebony, do you?" Kelly questioned aloud.
"Look kid, Benny Severide is a complicated beast. He is a well-respected captain who lives and breathes CFD. You are his first-born pride and joy, who is smashing every record he ever set here." Herrmann recalled, "But where does your sister fit into that? What were his aspirations for her?"
Once more, Kelly felt like he'd plummeted head first into a brick wall. How did everyone else see the rift and not him? Was it true what Ebony had said earlier, had Benny only looked out for his best interests? As Kelly thought about it more, Benny had done nothing more than berate her. He constantly reminded her that she should neither be seen or heard unless instructed to. It had been an old mentality that their mother had also followed but there had been times when his kid sister hadn't understood. He'd punished her for it but never in front of them, what had happened behind closed doors?
"How do I fix this?" Kelly was exacerbated.
"You can't." Herrmann stated simply before continuing. "Whilst away, she's grown into a strong and independent woman. She has her own mind and I think she's finally starting to deal with her past."
Kelly raised an eyebrow a Herrmann prompting the man to continue. "You can't be that quick to forget the pain she went through losing your mother and dealing with moving in with you. It was a massive adjustment for her and she didn't handle it very well."
"But we moved past that, we helped her with that." Kelly interrupted as he tried to shake his head clear of the memory of finding her in their apartment bathroom.
"Yes, we helped her through some really dark times." Herrmann agreed. "But they were immediate problems, I suspect this one is deep rooted. She's clearly only just starting to process it all, perhaps because she's seen Benny or maybe it's because she's finally ready. Regardless, we have to be there for her. She may be an adult now but she will always be our little Bonnie."
Kelly smiled at the use of Herrmann's nickname for his sister. Him calling her that had always brought a smile to her face, perhaps she looked to him as a father figure as well? He knew that she considered Boden to be like a father, did that also stretch to Herrmann? He and Cindy had welcomed her into their home with open arms, offering to babysit and pick her up from band practise when he needed them to.
"You're right. But how do we help her?" Kelly asked nervously.
"That my friend, is the question with a thousand answers and none of them are going to be easy."
