Title: Till Death do us Part
Chapter 25 – The Past Haunting the Future

A/N: So happy that we made it to 25 chapters for this story but the last chappy was the lowest reviewed so I am wondering if people actually wanted a bit more? Hope you enjoy this update.

As soon as she called into question his reasons for extracting the body and he had to defend himself, his back was up against the wall and he'd just like to tell the stony detective that he was done dealing with her and she could have her case back. And despite Boden's verbal attempts in his defense, Holloway wasn't having it and called out his actions once more.

"You just compromised my crime scene," Holloway tells him icily as she looks at the CPD officers around her. "Help the Lieutenant bag the body."

"I got it," Kelly pushes back as Matt nears him and watches.

"And…I'll need your statement."

"Yeah you'll get it," Kelly replies sourly.

Kelly gently lays the small bundle of charred bones onto the stretcher and then stands up with a heavy sigh and frown; casting an irate glance as Matt as he pushes past and heads for truck 3. Of course finding a child's body was always disturbing for a first responder, something about this one personally bothers him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah….fine," Kelly answers Matt and then pulls away and heads for the locker room; his mind trying to find the answers to the biggest question on his mind – do I know something about that child's body? Boden reminds him again about Holloway's request about his statement and all he can do is give his chief the thumbs up before he disappears into the locker room.

He pulls his phone and then notices one missed call from Erin and quickly calls her back. Much to his dismay he gets no answer in return, so tells himself to just get the report over and done with and then call the precinct to see if his wife was still there and what was going on.

XXXXXXXX

About half hour later, Matt looks up to see Erin walking into the large open doors of Firehouse 51 and greets her with a smile. "What's going on?"

"Shift is done and I just needed a friendly face."

"Well you came to the right place," Herrmann grins as he wraps his arm around her shoulders and gives her a friendly squeeze and big goofy grin. But just as she's about to let herself let go of a bit of the emotional tension, she notices a strange female enter with a CPD detective shield around her neck and walk up to them.

"Looking for Lieutenant Severide?" Holloway asks with a firm tone as Erin's brows slightly arch.

"In his office. Down that hallway, third door on the left," Matt directs as she gives him a nod, offers a curt "thank you," and pulls away from them.

"What's…going on?" Erin asks in haste.

"Found the remains of a child inside a chimney today. Kelly had to extract them."

"Oh God…" Erin whispers in horror as Matt's brow furrows.

"Detective Holloway is the lead on the case I'm guessing. She wasn't too happy with Kelly taking the body out but I'm assuming she's here for his statement."

"Right," answers with a small frown as she too pulls away and slowly wanders inside; leaving Matt and Herrmann to exchange wondering glances.

"Think the Lieutenant's day is going to get a lot more interesting."

XXXXXXXX

Kelly hears a small knock on the door and then looks up to see Holloway standing and then enter with a file in her hand.

"Working on it," he offers coolly as he pauses in eating his dinner. However, she doesn't seem to care, instead launches right into the reason the family wasn't home – they were on holidays, so were able to skip the ill-effects of the carbon monoxide.

"They bought the place about five months about but the ME thinks baby doe has been there a few years at least. Photo's of the chimney's interior. Wanted you to look at them and see if anything in there catches your eye."

He offers a heavy sigh, hoping she'd take the hint from the slightly steaming plate of food on his desk, but instead she holds her ground in the hopes that he'll stop what he's doing and comply. He does, telling himself that if he cooperates, she'll leave sooner.

"Any ID yet?"

"Clothes were stripped and there wasn't enough for a dental match," Holloway replies in truth as he starts to flip through the images.

"Besides the bones, everything looks normal," Kelly comments somewhat casually as he flips through the black and white images. However just as he gets to the last one he stop; his eyes instantly picking up something that didn't belong, something familiar to him which prompts him to enlarge the image so he's able to see the object a bit more clearly.

"You see something?" Holloway asks in haste.

"I think I know who this is," Kelly answers gravely as his mind races back in time.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah…hold on," Kelly stammers as he quickly stands up and heads into the hallway. But just as he does, he stops and then looks right at Erin who looks back at him with a weak smile. "Erin," he states as he hurries toward his wife, Holloway holding her place in his office doorway. "Everything okay?" He asks in a soft tone as she plants a quick kiss on his cheek, glances at Holloway and then up at him.

"Yeah find. Just wanted…a friendly face. What's going on?"

"Worked a call a few years back, think this might be her. Just wanted to confirm with the Chief. Can we talk in a sec?"

"Yeah. I'll wait. Don't want to keep…" Erin pauses as she looks at Holloway.

"Detective Holloway," Bianca Holloway interjects with a small huff.

"Right…waiting," Erin agrees with a tight lipped smile. "I'll wait in your office."

"Okay."

She watches him pull away and then notice Holloway give her a small nod but nothing in the way of a friendly smile or warm greeting. However, her smile isn't lost when she offers it to Kelly, audibly thanking him for his help so far. Erin slowly wanders into his office and then looks at the plate of food with a small smirk.

"It'll be cold by the time he gets back," she whispers as she sits down in his chair. Her eyes glance at the report on his computer screen, but it's the small collage of pictures on his desk of her and him, and a few of him and Shay that instantly tug at her heartstrings. You can't tell him about your day…he's helping with a dead child…her brain reminds him. Tell him later…

Kelly enters Boden's office and instantly starts into his reasoning. "Chief…remember Courtney Harris? I'm pretty damn sure it's her body we found in the chimney."

"Who's Courtney Harris?" Holloway asks Boden.

"Little girl who wandered away from her parent's lake house in North Kenwood one night during a party. Ended up drowning. Some of the locals didn't believe that and we all went down and got involved it the search. Squad chief called it off on day three."

"But you don't know for sure," Holloway tries.

"The description included a Saint Nicholas's pendant. I remember because her mom told me," Kelly insisted as he hands Boden the picture from the crime scene. That's it Chief. That's her necklace."

"North Kenwood is over ten miles from this morning's call," Holloway argues back.

"Then someone transported the body," Kelly insists. "I'm telling you it's her. That's why we never found her. She wasn't in the lake," Kelly stresses as he looks directly at Boden.

"Okay," Holloway reluctantly agrees. "I'll look into it."

Kelly watches her go and then looks back at Boden, who quickly reminds him that they aren't sure of anything just yet and not to get his hopes up too high. "Just…wait on them to confirm this."

"Right," Kelly sighs as he takes his leave and then returns to his office. "Hey sorry. Just has to discuss a few things from the call."

"I got Herrmann to reheat if for you."

"Thanks," he replies with a soft smile. "Want some?"

"Not…that hungry," she answers in truth as he sits down on the small bed and then continues eating.

"You okay?"

"Yeah….tired. Long day. What's going on?"

"You remember that missing child case from North Kenwood? Courtney Harris."

"Vaguely."

"I think it's her. Baby doe we found today."

"But…Kenwood is…"

"I know a hell of a long ways away from today's call," he interjects in with a small huff. "The timing is right and the necklace. A Saint Nicholas pendant. It's not something every child would wear. I know it's her."

"And the ever friendly detective Holloway is going to confirm that?" She asks with arched brows as he offers her a smirk. "Okay so fine, she was friendly to you."

"Mrs. Severide, are you jealous?" He asks with a playful grin.

"Not on your life Mr. Severide," she tosses back as he offers a fake pout. "'sides if I did it, they'd never find her body."

"Jealous," he snickers as she offers him a strained smile. "Erin…"

"I'm tired and just joking," she leans in and gives him a kiss on the lips. "Just needed a friendly face. Handsome face," she whispers as she plants a soft kiss on his cheek and pulls back with a look of comfort and gratitude. "Not sure where to stay tonight."

"Wanna crash here?"

"Uh no…I can't…can I?"

"If you don't mind me clacking on this damn computer or the alarm system going off. Or…"

"Or what?"

"I was gonna call Squad 4 and from Kenwood and get their report for that night."

"I can do that," Erin volunteers minutes before the overhead paging system goes off.

"So…you sure everything's okay?"

"Yeah. Fine," Erin answers with a tight lipped smile; her brain instantly chastising her for lying to her husband. He's working the case of a dead child that was connected to him…he doesn't need more stress to deal with. However, her reasoning would prove false and the emotional tension was about to ramp up once more. "If I find this for you…"

"I just want to see the report," Kelly insists in haste. "I'm not going to ask you to take over."

"Kelly…not a good idea to step on the toes of another house."

"This is just another case to Holloway. Just another number to her. Courtney was something to me. Our families…" his voice trails off into a small headshake. "You think I should drop it?" He asks with a small hiss as Erin quickly stands up with her hands raised in mock defense.

"I didn't mean to make light of this but I know from a detective's perspective…" she starts only to have the overhead paging system interrupt her speech.

"Gotta go."

"Okay," she tells him as some of the members of Firehouse 51 start to rush past his office, Matt slapping his doorframe as a sign to go. "Go. I'll…get the report."

"'kay," Kelly states with a distressed expression as he darts out of his office and disappears from view; a bit of stiffness starting to develop.

Coward…a week back from holiday and you're already keeping things from him? He needs to know you're hurting. You have to tell him.

Erin watches the trucks pull away from view and then slowly heads back to her car and slumps down into the driver's seat but pauses before pulling out of the parking lot. But as she closes her eyes, she's instantly whisked back in time to when they found Nellie and the condition Yates had left her in, his sister.

"Bastard," she hisses as her palms hit the steering wheel; her body starting to slightly shake. She quickly puts the car in gear and pulls out of the parking lot, heading for the CFD headquarters to get the file for Kelly that would have been filed from the other squad that was officially involved.

XXXXXXXX

"Severide! Second floor! We've got the first!"

"Copy! Capp! Cruz!" Severide shouted after he and Matt broke apart and took their teams in different directions to complete their search.

"Fire department! Call out!" Severide calls as he hurries into the furthest bedroom. But as soon as he enters the bedroom and looks at the items that belong to a little girl, his mind offers her voice crying to for help before she's silenced for good. His actions slow and it's not until Matt slaps him on the back and then bodily turns him around toward the exit that he starts to move.

"Place is clear! We need to get out!"

But just as they reach the doorway, a fiery blast from behind propels both of them forward into the hallway; the force sending Severide careening dangerously close toward the edge of the wooden stairwell and busting through.

"Severide!" Matt shouts as he quickly grabs his friends arm to keep him from growing over. "Herrmann! Need help here!"

Severide's legs flail in the air as he scrambles to keep a hold of Matt's arm. After what seems like a small eternity, he feels his body being jerked forward until his entire frame is back on solid ground.

"We have to get out of here!" Herrmann tells them all anxiously as Matt and Herrmann bodily walk Kelly's sluggish frame toward the front door and then outside into the fresh night air.

"What happened in there?" Boden asks Kelly directly as Matt looks at him in concern.

"I uh…hesitated. Won't happen again."

"Make sure."

Matt waits until Boden pulls away and then looks at his friend in concern. "What's going on?"

"I…hesitated," Kelly repeats as Matt's expression changes to that of disbelief as he tries to pull away. But Matt won't have it and quickly grabs his arm and pulls him back. "I'm…I need to solve this case."

"Solve it?" Matt counters as Kelly shakes his head and rubs his face, adding a bit more soot to it than he wanted. "That's PDs case to solve and its not even Erin's division. You're too involved in this Kelly. You need to back off."

"Matt…"

"You need to back off before someone gets hurt. Either on or off the job."

As much as he wants to toss something back in a verbal rebuttal, Kelly turns away and then stops and nods. "I know…" he starts and then stops and looks back at Matt with a defeated expression. "I can't let it go. I knew the family…Matt, our families hung together at my Uncle's in the summer. This is personal."

"That's why you need to let someone objective solve it. Because you know if it's not her…it'll hurt even more."

"I know it's her. Holloway just needs DNA from the Harris family…I can get that."

"They asked you to get that?"

'Just get me their numbers and I'll call them. That's all I need from you Lieutenant. Their numbers.'

"I know them. But I can't just make some damn impersonal phone call or give their number to some strange cop who just wants to close a file. That detective…she doesn't care about them like…"

"Kelly…"

"I need to do this Matt! For Courtney's sake. I don't give a damn about Holloway just closing the case. I know it's her."

And before Matt could offer another word, Kelly pulls away and heads toward truck 3, muttering something in an undertone before he hops into the front of the cabin and then waits for it to pull away.

"Everything okay Lieutenant?" Cruz asks in concern.

"Fine. Let's just back to the house."

XXXXXXXX

"He just needs to borrow the report. A new case has surfaced and he just needs to see the notes. Just need a copy of it."

Erin takes the file and heads back outside and gets into her car, thankful that it wasn't too late and she was able to get the file before the offices closes for the night for good. Her phone buzzes again and she looks at Voight's number and presses ignore, knowing that he'll just tell her not to be alone. But with the case that Kelly was now emotionally distraught over, she tells herself she won't add to his burden.

But she would also remind him when she gave him the file that this was now an open case and the CPD has jurisdiction and he shouldn't do anything to jeopardize it. Would he listen? She wasn't so sure.

"Hey…Erin," Matt greets Erin as she enters the firehouse with the file in her grasp. "Got the file for Kelly. How was the call?"

"Tense. He should be in his office writing his part of the file."

"Okay."

"Erin."

"Yeah?"

"He was a bit shaken from the call today. He's okay but he could have been burned," Matt informs her. "Think the case has him distracted. Told him he needs to let Holloway handle it. But you might wanna remind him again. If he's distracted on the job it could cost us all."

"Okay thanks," Erin softly acknowledges.

She gives him a nod and then goes in search of her husband, wanting to clear up a bit of the brewing tension that had built up when they parted just before the call and ask him about his call. Was shaken…could have been burned….could have been worse…

"Kelly," Erin whispers as she looks in his office only to see it empty. Then she turns and goes in search of him.

However, Matt looks up about five minutes later to see Erin come back with a wondering expression. "Did…Kelly leave?"

Matt's brow furrows as he slowly shakes his head. "No but…he might have gone to see Emma."

"Who's Emma? Matt…what's really going on?"

A/N: So hope if you read and want to see more you'll review! Best payment on this site and what keeps us going! Hmm so will the tension between our couple continue to simmer? Or will they come clean about everything? And will they actually go to therapy? Please do review before you go and thanks so much!