"Acting very father like back there." Dawson said with a smirk as she waited with Casey on the sidewalk. "Severide was too."
Casey grinned. "He is worse than me."
"When it comes to Grace, yeah." Dawson nodded. "But I think all the guys in the house feel that way."
"You know, in my mind she is always going to be that little girl that needs me."
"She'll always need you." Dawson said. "Besides how is her costume any more revealing than her cheerleading outfit?"
Casey shook his head. "Don't even get me started on that."
Dawson laughed as Griffin, Ben and their friends came running back from the door. They simply smiled before running to the next house. "Boys, walk." Casey yelled after them as they almost ran right into another group of kids. "The candy will still be there."
"Not the good kind!" Griffin yelled back as he slowed down.
Casey grinned and turned back to Dawson. "I want them back at that age."
"Unless you invent a time machine, that isn't going to happen." She said as she linked arms with him. "You're just going to have to get used to the idea that they are becoming adults."
OOOOOO
"I can't believe we got in!" Grace squealed in Claire's ear, careful to make sure only she heard.
The sports bar transformed into a night club for the night with neon and strobe lights, fog, zombie waitress' and bartenders and decorations everywhere. It moved out all its tables to create one giant dance floor that was packed with people dressed in different costumes. As Grace looked around she noticed that they weren't the only high school kids there. There were a lot of students from her school that she recognized and the whole cheer squad and basketball team was there as planned. Either the bouncers weren't very good at checking IDs or they didn't care.
The girls dragged the guys out to the dance floor. Grace never really let herself relax and have fun but she decided to that night. There was something about the music and the lights and dancing so close with her boyfriend. In a room full of people she felt like it was just them and she let herself get lost in the music.
"Do you want a drink?" Tyler leaned down and said into Grace's ear after they had been dancing for a while.
"I thought we weren't drinking?" She said. "You have a game tomorrow."
"Come on Grace, we're here. Have a few."
Jake saw Grace stop dancing and stepped in. "What's wrong?"
"I thought we weren't drinking." She repeated.
Jake looked to Tyler and shrugged. "You don't have to." He leaned down to Grace. "Don't be his mother. If he wants to drink, let him."
Grace rolled her eyes and sighed. "I don't want anything."
Tyler nodded and headed to the bar to order drinks with the guys. The girls continued to dance together as they waited for the guys to come back. They were having a lot of fun and Grace was glad they didn't want to drink either. While they were waiting for the guys to come back, two older guys approached the dancing trio.
"Do you want to dance?" One of them asked Claire.
"There's only two of you and three of us." She grinned, as she batted her eyelashes.
"I can handle two women." He said with a sly grin.
"I bet you could." Claire nodded. "But my boyfriend is here. He just went to get some drinks."
"I'll back off when he comes back." He offered. "It's just dancing."
"I'll tell you what," Claire said. "You come back with a third guy and I'll dance with you."
"Deal." He grinned at her and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
"What if they come back?" Grace said.
"Then we dance with them." She shrugged and Grace couldn't help but laugh at Claire's carefree attitude.
They didn't even get through a full song before the guy reappeared. Claire grinned at him as he approached them. "So, do you have friends for my friends?"
"You bet. I'm Cory," He grinned at Claire before he nodded to the guy that was with him before. "This is Troy and he has a thing for cops."
Grace smiled at him when he approached her. "I'm not just any cop, I'm on the SWAT team."
"Even better." The guy smiled back and Grace couldn't help but want to flirt with him. He was older and very good looking. "I'm Troy."
"Grace." She nodded and shook his outreached hand.
"And my other friend," The guy looked around before pulling his friend that was dressed in a pirate costume from talking to another girl. "He's actually a firefighter so I figured you two go together. Pete this is Rachel, Claire and –"
"Grace." He said. Grace frowned, confused that he knew her until she really looked at him.
"Oh, hey Mills." She said, trying to act casual.
"You two know each other?" Cory asked. "Do you want to switch dancing partners?"
"Sorry Pete," Troy said as he put his arm on the small of Grace's back. "I called dibs."
Grace watched Mills and decided to intervene. "Just let me talk to him for one song, then I'm all yours," Grace smiled. "Until my boyfriend gets back from the bar, that is."
"That will be awhile," Troy nodded towards the growing lines. "One song."
Grace nodded with a flirty smile. Mills tried to come himself as he approached Grace. "What the hell are you doing here?" He seethed as they attempted to dance to a Latin song. He put his hand on the small of her back and pulled her in close so he could talk to her without making it look obvious that they were arguing.
"We're just having some fun." She said, thankful that the song playing wasn't one they would have had to grind too. "Please don't tell anyone."
"Are you stupid?" He said. "This is illegal. Fake IDs and drinking?"
"I'm not drinking." She said. "And everyone has a fake ID."
"Casey is going to kill you if he finds out."
Grace pulled back to look at him. "He's not going to find out."
Mills sighed. "As long as this is a one-time thing."
"It is!" She assured. "Come on, let us have some fun. Be the cooler older brother, not the kind that rat us out."
"Fine." Mills nodded. "But Troy is not for you."
"I have a boyfriend, remember?" Grace said.
"Troy won't care." Mills warned. "Be careful."
They separated as Troy approached them and Grace did her best to pretend nothing was wrong. "So is he an old flame?" Troy asked. "I don't want to break the Bro Code."
Grace laughed. "He's just a family friend."
Rachel left to find the guys at the bar when Mills bailed on dancing with her. Grace assumed it was probably a combination of knowing she was only sixteen and her being Jake's girlfriend. Grace and Claire danced with Troy and Cory for about three songs until Rachel came back over to warn them that the guys were coming. They slipped away into the crowd just in time.
It had been about two hours since they got to the bar and the older crowd was beginning to come in. The place was getting more and more packed and it was hard to find space to do anything. The girls were still having a lot of fun but the guys were getting tired of dancing and pulling their girlfriends away from other guys who were trying to dance with them.
"We want to go." Jake yelled over the music to the girls.
Claire looked annoyed but nodded. "We're going to the bathroom." She yelled to the guys. "We'll meet you outside."
Claire grabbed Grace's hand and Grace grabbed Rachel as she led them to the bathroom. Surprisingly there wasn't a line for the bathroom but there were a few girls inside talking and fixing their make-up.
"I can't believe the guys want to leave." Rachel said as she looked at herself in the mirror and tried to fix her smudging eye liner.
"We could stay." Claire suggested. "They're outside, they won't get back in."
Grace smirked. "I think that's a little harsh."
Claire sighed. "Yeah, you're right."
As they were leaving the bathroom a loud explosion happened and suddenly there was smoke and fire blocking their path to the door. They ran back to the bathroom with a few other people to get away from the smoke. The back doors were on the other side of the club behind the bar and the window in the bathroom was small and too high to reach.
"We're trapped." One girl suddenly exclaimed. "What do we do?"
One girl opened the bathroom door and looked out but quickly ducked back inside. "She's right, there's no way we can go that way."
"What about the window?" Another girl said. "If we stand on the garbage can we might be able to reach it."
"Maybe." The other girl mumbled. "Someone call 911 first and let them know we're here."
Girls began calling 911 saying that they were trapped in the bathroom but Grace was noticing that the smoke was beginning to fill up the room. She began to panic as she looked at the seven other girls trapped in the bathroom with her. None of them knew what to do and it was clear that they couldn't go back out the door.
Grace snapped out of it and grabbed the garbage can and moved it under the window. Claire and Rachel helped her climb on top and as she reached for the window she had a chilling thought. She began looking around the room desperately.
"What's wrong?" Claire said as the other girls watched.
"There's no vent." Grace said as she continued to scan the room.
"What?" Rachel frowned.
"There's no vent in here." Grace repeated. "If we open the window, we'll give oxygen to the fire. It will come right for us."
"And you know that because?" One of the girls said. "Just open the window."
"Her uncle is a firefighter." Claire snapped.
"If I open the window there is a very good chance we'll all die from the backdraft." Grace said as she reached for her phone.
OOOOOO
"Thanks for helping out tonight." Casey said as he walked Dawson to the door. "I really appreciate it."
"No problem." She smiled. "I'll see you at the game tomorrow?"
"Yeah, see you tomorrow." He nodded. "Drive safe."
Casey closed the door and headed back to the living room to wait for the twins to get home. He heard his phone ring and rang to the kitchen, hoping it wouldn't wake the boys. He grabbed it and frowned at the caller ID. "Mills?"
"Hey Casey," Mills said breathlessly. "Are the twins at home?"
"No, not yet." Casey said. "They should be home soon though."
"Damn it." Mills mumbled.
"Mills?" Casey said. "What's going on?"
"Okay, I know I should have called you right away and told you, but Grace begged me not to and was telling me to be the cooler older brother."
"Mills." Casey said slowly. "Are you drunk?"
"Yeah," He responded quickly. "Casey, you're going to hate me."
"What?" Casey frowned. "Why would I hate you?"
"Because I didn't rat the twins out."
"Rat them out for what?" Mills hesitated. "Mills."
"They were at Game Time." He said. "I ran into Grace and her friends there a few hours ago."
Casey sighed. "Are you kidding?"
"No and," He said as he sighed. "I called because there was a fire and I don't know if they were still inside."
"What?"
"I was in there and I looked for them but there were people everywhere." Mills explained. "They aren't outside. They may have left but I don't know and I just want to make sure they're okay."
Casey could hear the desperation in his voice. "I'll call you once I know, thanks Mills." Casey hung up and immediately received a call from Grace on the home phone. "Grace?"
"Uncle Matt, we're trapped in the bathroom of Game Time." Grace blurted out, unable to stay calm. "The fire blocked the exits and there's no vent in the bathroom so we can't open the window. There's a lot of smoke in here. I don't know what to do."
"Okay Grace, you need to calm down." Casey said as he tried to remain calm despite her desperate plea for help. "Did you call 911 and let them know you were trapped in the bathroom?"
"Yeah we did that."
"Good." Casey nodded. "It only takes seven minutes for us to respond, okay sweetheart? Someone will be there."
"Uncle Matt," Grace said as her voice broke.
"Grace listen to me," Casey interrupted. "How many people are there with you?"
"Seven."
"If you can take off any extra clothing, put it at the bottom of the door to keep the smoke out." Casey waited as she repeated the instructions to the other girls. "Okay good. Now get as far away from the door as you can. Grace, you're going to be okay."
Casey reassured as he grabbed his cell phone and sent a message to Severide. Even though he was off duty, Casey knew he'd respond anyway. Casey was trying to stay calm himself but in order to do that, he needed someone he could trust to be on scene to save his niece.
"Uncle Matt?" Grace said.
"I'm still here, Gracie."
"There's a lot of smoke." She said slowly and Casey could hear her laboured breathing.
"Sit down on the ground, it will help." He said. "Can you hear the sirens?"
Grace strained to listen. "I think so."
Casey looked down at his message from Severide. "Okay Grace, the fire department is on scene now. Severide, Cruz, Herrmann and Otis are all there because they were at Molly's. They know you're in the bathroom. They are coming to get you."
"Okay." Grace said slowly and Casey knew the smoke had to be heavy. It was torture for him to have to wait on the other end and not be able to help. "They're here." Grace said after a few minutes and Casey heard the door and the distinctive call of "Fire Department call out."
"Grace!" Severide called as he approached her.
"Kelly." She said weakly as he picked her up and began carrying her outside. The smoke was heavy and Severide was worried about how much they had inhaled. Grace was light headed and on the verge of passing out when he finally stepped outside and handed her to paramedics. He grabbed her phone out of her hand as she was given oxygen.
"She's okay." He said to Casey. "The paramedics have here and she's conscious."
Casey sighed. "Thank you."
"Yeah, no problem." He said. "I'll go with her to the hospital."
"I'll meet you there as soon as Dawson gets back to watch the boys." Casey said. "And then I have to find Jake."
"Already ahead of you." Severide said as he spotted Jake in the crowd. "I'll bring him to the hospital."
OOOOOO
Jake was sitting next to Severide when Casey arrived at the hospital. He noticed that Nick and Tyler were there along with Claire and Rachel's parents. He went to the nurse's station for information before coming to sit beside Jake.
"We're having a long discussion when we get home. I want the whole story and I want one hell of an explanation." Casey said. "So you better think long and hard what you're going to say."
"Yes, sir." Jake mumbled quietly.
"We're you inside when the fire started?" Casey asked after a moment.
"No. We were waiting for them outside." Jake said. "The fire started and they wouldn't let us back. I waited and waited but they didn't come out. I should have been in there with them."
Casey frowned and put an arm around his nephew giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze. "It's not your fault." He said. "I'm glad you're okay."
Jake looked at him and Casey could see his was upset and hurting. "I'm sorry,"
"I know," Casey nodded. "But the fire and the girls getting trapped had nothing to do with you. You hear me?"
Jake nodded and leaned his head against Casey's shoulder slightly. They waited until the doctor approached and asked for the parents. He explained that the girls were all fine; they suffered some smoke inhalation but were treated and could be released.
The ride home was quiet and seemed to take longer than usual. Casey told the twins to go change and then they'd talk. He thanked Dawson again for helping out and once he reassured her that everyone was okay, she left. Casey checked on the boys quickly to make sure they were still asleep before heading up stairs to talk to the twins.
Grace was lying in her bed and Casey knew she was exhausted and wanted to sleep. Jake paced around in her room but stopped suddenly when Casey walked through the door. He grabbed her desk chair and placed it beside her bed. As he sat down, Grace sat up and Jake walked over to sit on the bed beside Grace and in front of his uncle.
"Okay, I want the whole story." Casey said. "Who's idea was this, how did you hear about it, how did you get into the club, did you drink, all of it."
"It went around school that Game Time was throwing this Halloween Rave." Grace explained. "Claire's sister works there and said the bouncers were going to look the other way on IDs that night and that she could get us fake ones."
"So we got them and we used them. A lot of high school kids were there." Jake added. "The girls didn't drink but the guys and I had a few beers."
"Define a few." Casey said.
"Two each."
Casey sighed and held out his hand. "Give me the IDs." He shook his head when Jake handed them to him. "Did you know this was wrong?"
"Well yeah," Jake said before receiving a warning look from Casey. "I mean, yes sir."
"Did you know that fake IDs are illegal?"
Jake sighed, knowing when this conversation was going. "Yes, sir."
"Did you know that underage drinking is illegal?"
"Yes, sir."
"Have we not had a discussion about your drinking before?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then explain to me why you did it."
Jake shrugged. "We just wanted to have some fun, Uncle Matt."
"So you lied to me, snuck into a club with fake IDs, drank underage and put yourselves into a dangerous situation?" Casey listed. "Not exactly a smart idea, now was it?"
"No, sir."
"You're awfully quiet." Casey said as he looked over at Grace. "Do you have anything to add?"
Grace shook her head. "No Uncle Matt." Casey was always amazed at how different the twins were. When they got in trouble Jake would go straight to yes sir or no sir, laying on the respect and Grace would usually cry and throw in the Uncle, reminding him of her as a little girl.
"What you did was stupid and so many things could have gone wrong legally." Casey sighed. "That fire could have been a lot worse too. You could have been seriously hurt or even killed. You broke the law and your broke my trust."
"So we're grounded?" Jake concluded.
Casey nodded as he stood up. "A month."
"Does that mean I can't go out with the team tomorrow night?" Jake said.
Casey crossed his arms and stared at his nephew. "What do you think?"
"I think I'll go to bed." Jake said as he got up to leave.
"Good answer." Casey nodded. "Goodnight."
"Night." Jake said as he left the room.
"Night Gracie," Casey said to Grace as stood up and leaned down to kiss her head. He put the desk chair back but as he turned to leave the room, Grace suddenly began to panic. "Wait, Uncle Matt, don't go."
Casey frowned and walked back over to the side of her bed as she got up and hugged him tightly. "Grace," He said confused, returning the embrace. "You're okay," He soothed as he rubbed her back.
"I was so scared." She mumbled into his shirt, tears escaping.
"I know sweetheart, I was scared too." Casey said as he tightened his grip on her.
