Disclaimer: I do not own any of the One Chicago universe characters or the few accident stories I will borrow from real CF episodes.
Shay and the rest of the 51 was on shift when the time came for Gabby to come home but Voight had given Antonio some time off to greet his sister. So once the 48 hours were up Antonio was at the army base to see his sister again with most of 51 and Intelligence unit waiting for news from Antonio.
The first thing he saw when he arrived at the airfield was coffins with the American flag draped over them loaded off the plane. No there weren't one or two, but there were dozens of them and then he saw his sister with one hand in a cast and half of her face covered in stitched up gashes from what looked like shrapnel limping off the plane fallowed by 20 more men in various conditions. That was what was left from the whole base 21 people. As soon as Gabby stepped on the pavement of the airfield she fell to her knees happy to be on the U.S. soil again but devastated from what she seen overseas.
"Gabby" Antonio yelled for his sister and started running towards her. But she didn't get up like Antonio hoped for. She just lifted her head and he saw the tears in her eyes. They weren't happy tears. So he too fell on his knees as soon as he reached his sister and cradled her into his arms sensing that all Gabby needed right now is for someone to hold her.
They stayed like that for what seemed like hours until Antonio sensed that he needed to get her out there because he saw that the reporters that were filming the arrival of the plane were about to come talk to him and his sister. So he gently helped Gabby to get up and they walked to Antonio's SUV and drove home. What he didn't know that the press had already recorded everything that played out on that airfield and had broadcasted it live on the local news allowing everyone who knew Gabby to see her devastation.
Back at the fire station..
"We already reported earlier about the explosion in one of our military bases in Afghanistan. And today is the day the few surviving solders of that devastating attack returns home.." The reporter said and Shay ordered everyone to shut up and to turn up the TV in the Firehouse.
"Oh My God do you see those coffins?" Exclaimed Otis. "There must be a few dozen of them" Otis said as the reporter started talking again and everyone ordered him to shut up.
".. and it has been confirmed that only 21 soldiers had survived the attack making this one of the worst loses in U.S. army history in the last decades. And here comes the wounded soldiers." The camera zoomed in and everyone in 51 stopped breathing seeing soldiers with various injuries coming out of the plane and in their midst was their friend Gabriela Dawson limping with face covered in wounds and one arm in a cast. As soon as her feet touched the pavement she fell to her knees and you could see a man running to her and holding her in his arms. It was Antonio. The rest of the soldiers too looked like ghosts some on their knees, some standing being embraced by their families.
"They shouldn't be filming this" spoke Matt disturbed by the media willing to cover this and his heart hurting for Gabby as he saw her cry in his brothers arms.
"She looks.." but Shay couldn't finish the sentence and started crying in Kelly's arms who was right next to her.
"Let's see if we are able to talk to some of them" the reported started talking again after a while slowly moving towards Gabby seeming that Gabby was her intended target as she was the only female soldier there. But thankfully Antonio quickly led Gabby away not letting the reporter harass her and everyone at 51 and the Intelligence Unit for that matter took a breath. They all knew that it won't be easy for Gabby to recover from this but they knew that they will do anything they can to help.
