When I started this fic back in November, I knew it was going to be fun to write and I would enjoy it HOWEVER I could NOT imagine the love that I have gotten for it. 505 reviews? Are you kidding me?

So this is just to bring a little drama into the story once again, it can't all be sunshine…But you trust me right?

Umm…can we just talk about Matt going UNDERCOVER for a second… OH GOD! That is going to be SO awesome, I am so excited to see that! :D

Chapter 36 – "Dad?"

"So Gabriella, what brings you in today?" Gabby looked back at the doctor, she had come in for her regular check ups, the same one she had to have every two years. But today was a little different; she wanted to ask a few questions.

"Other than what I planned, I wanted to make sure everything was ok. My boyfriend and I have been talking about having another baby, not right now but I know there were some issues during and after my first; I just want to make sure that everything is ok. I don't want to find out when were start trying." She looked at her OB, who smiled.

"That's fine Gabby, lets get you up on the table. I have gone over your file and I know there were some issues but I feel that these shouldn't be any issues in the future, we will just keep an eye on it." Gabby smiled, she hadn't told Matt that she had issues after James was born, but she would tell him, she just had be get the courage to tell him, it was a time that had terrified her.

Once the appointment was over, she listened to her voice mail, smiling when she heard that Matt would be taking James out shopping, he loved spending time with James, and after getting the all clear from her OB about having another baby, she couldn't get the idea out of her head, she would love to have a baby that is part her and part Matt. At point though, she just wanted to wrap her arms around Matt tightly and hold him close to her.

"Babe, you are being ridiculous, can we just walk about this?" Matt called out as they made it into the house; two steps behind Gabby as she had jumped out of the truck before had even had a chance to put it into park. It was early morning on a Saturday; James had stayed the night at home with Antonio, Laura and the kids having going to visit her mother. It had been a few weeks since James' birthday; everything had been good, until shift yesterday.

Antonio looked up from the couch, hearing the front door slam closed and then open once more, matt voice echoing through the hallway. He watched as Gabby made a beeline for the bedroom, the bedroom door slamming and then the adjoining bathroom slamming as well.

Raising his eyebrow at Matt, Antonio glanced over to James who was seated next to him, confused at what was happening but also a little frightened, he had never seen Matt like this, his mother neither. They heard Matt knocking on the bathroom door but she had locked it, effectively locking him out her space. "Gabby come on! Please, talk to me!" He turned again, "Baby, please..." Then the sound of the shower started, again her way of blocking him out.

Sighing Matt came back into the living room and rubbed his face, he was tired, it had been a long shift but the night had been worse. Suddenly realising that Antonio and James were watching him closely, he smiled, "hey guys. How was your night? Come here kid, I need a hug." James watched Matt for a moment, unsure, James was still very protective of his mother before he smiled a little and moved to Matt, hugging him instantly.

Matt glanced up and looked over at Antonio, who was studying him closely, trying to work out if he should be worried or angry with Matt. Nodding once at Antonio, Matt looked down at James, "hey kid why don't you go down stairs and play for a bit, I gotta talk to your uncle for a minute. I'll be down soon and we can play some air hockey." James nodded excitedly before rushing off towards the basement. Matt rubbed his face again, making his way to the couch an crashing down next to Antonio.

When silence came over them both, Antonio spoke, "Do I need to kick you ass?" He raised his eyebrow as Matt glanced over at him, silent for another moment before shaking his head.

"No, no...Well actually you might. We had a call yesterday that put me in a bit of trouble and Gabby has been really upset since. She hasn't even spoken to me..." He groaned, he hated that he has upset Gabby, he hated seeing her so angry at him. When Antonio just waited for him to continue, matt began telling him of the call.

"Ah chief, we got a problem here. There is a guy with a gun; he's got Herrman-" Matt spoke into his radio quickly, wanting to inform the Chief of the situation before he was caught out. They had been called to a fire in the backyard of someone house, nothing overly typical but once 81 headed into the back it turned on them.

It was in fact a small fire that occurred in the garage of the home, however the reason for the fire set the owner in attack mode. He was cooking something, matt hadn't had a chance to get a good look at what it was before the guy had jumped out from behind a cabinet, gun cocked an his arm around Hermann. Each of the members of 81 jumping back in surprise Casey's concern and lieutenant position taking over.

He clicked his radio over to live, knowing that Chief had already called for the CPD but Gabby, Shay and squad were still outside, he wanted them to be able to hear what was happening, so they weren't too worried. "Hey were are just here to work the fire out. Come on man! Let him go!" Matt put his hands out, trying to calm him down, but it was clear the guy was not going to listen.

He pulled Hermann back with him, the gun pushed further into the side of his head, Hermann closed his eyes, opening them slowly, finding Matt's instantly, conveying pleasing and fear that matt could clearly see. "Get back all of you! I said GET BACK!" But Matt didn't, the rest of 81 did.

"Come on man, we don't care what you are doing here, we are just here because of the fire. Let him go, he's got kids man, a family, he's got people at home who love him, rely on him...if you want someone...take me..." The words fell from his mouth before he could stop it. He wouldn't let himself think about Gabby or James, when he was on shift and on a call; he was a lieutenant first and foremost.

However the flash that crossed Hermann's face told him he was crazy but matt had a plan, he was bigger than Herman, taller, the guy wouldn't be able to hold him as tightly, Matt would be able to move faster. "You think I care about him and his family?" He guy spat, there was one thing he cared about, getting out of there before the CPD came.

Swallowing matt decided that a change of direction was needed. "You think that you are going to get out of here with him? If you want to get out of here, if you want the CPD, who is already on there way, to go easy on you, you are going to get further with a lieutenant. A fire fighter isn't going to get you anywhere. Take me, let him go and you've got a better chance of getting out of this in one piece."

Matt took a step forward, his hands still raised, he could see the guy thinking, his eyes flashing from Hermann to matt thinking over his options. It wasn't until matt was standing directly in front of him that he nodded, pushing Hermann to the side, raising the gun to Matt's face. Matt swallowed; he could hear Cruz call out from behind him, "No! Lieutenant' but he did flinch, he couldn't because right now the guy was focused on him, not noticing that he had dropped his hands, slipping into his pocket, finding whatever weapon he could.

His hand slipped around the handle of something he had no idea what it was, his mind could not focus on it at that moment, he was making sure the guy didn't take his eyes of matt, he was in trouble the minute the guys eyes dropped.

It all happened in an instant, matt swung his arm towards the guy, connecting Si the side of his face, lunging forward, tackling him to the ground, he gun firing, echoing through the room and no doubt being able to be heard outside, voices shouting, calls of 'Casey!' or 'lieutenant' sudden shouts of 'FREEZE CPD!' adding to the craziness.

It took another 10 minutes before matt and the rest of truck 81 made their way back towards the front of the house where everyone was waiting impatiently for them. He glanced around, instantly finding Boden, making his way over to the older man he spoke, "everyone is ok. CPD is doing their thing. Fire is out. Nothing major but clearly more major than it should have been." He the glanced behind him, his eyes connecting with Gabby who looked scared and furious all at once.

Boden just nodded, knowing that his men would want to get back to the firehouse, wanting to get away from scene. His men had seen many things during their time on the shifts but when things like this happened; it always seemed to shake them. He glanced over at Hermann, noting that he was visibly shaken; he would be having a conversation with him when they got back. "Good job lieutenant. Get your men packed and back to the house." Boden then glanced over his shoulders his eyes finding where matt was looking, smiling to himself before moving away towards his buggy.

"Let's get back to the house!" Matt called out, his eyes still focused on Gabby who had turned her back to him. He could see the muscles in her back where tight, she was angry he just hoped he would be able to help her relax or at least get her to see reason. Dropping his head, Matt made his way over to the ambulance, gaining he attention of Shay who glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow but giving him a sympathetic look before turning away.

Swallowing deeply, matt place his hand on Gabby's back, trying to get her attention, something he struggled to do, as she wouldn't give him anything, she wouldn't even look at him. "Gabby, hey you alright?" All she did was shrug his hand away, still not looking at him. "Gabby I -"

"Touch me again right now and I promise you, you will regret it." She snapped, her voice was low, accusing and harsh, her eyes cold and flat before she moved away from him, jumping into the front of the ambo, slamming the door as she went. Matt just watched her as she did so, knowing well enough not to push her when she was like this, he would give her some time, talk to her later in day.

Gabby and Shay stood by the side of the ambo, watching as Matt and the rest of 81 made their way to the back of the house, smoke coming from the back yard, "Casey give you a call if you need us!" She called out as they watched home go, earning a nod and a 'No problem Dawson' as he headed out the sight.

There was silence for what felt like forever until Casey's voice echoed through the radios, "ah chief, we got a problem here. There is a guy with a gun, he's got Hermann-" but then his voice was cut off. Gabby gasped, shay coming to her side, Severide looking around concerned. Boden was just as shocked, he couldn't believe this had happened; there was nothing to have prepared them for this.

Boden had already radioed for CPD backup, being informed that they were already on their way, shay had her arm wrapped around gabby, both girls looking very worried. Then Casey's voice was heard again, "Hey we are just here to work the fire out. Come on man! Let him go!" Gabby was proud of her boyfriend, he stood up for his men, not backing down, he protected everyone.

The man's voice came through, echoing through the radio, "Get back all of you! I said get back!" Something inside of Gabby shook at his voice, he sounded angry but more so he sounded scared and scared was worse than angry, fear mean unpredictability, that scared her the most.

"Come on man, we don't care what guy are doing here, we are just here because of the fire. Let him go, he's got kids man, a family, he's got people at home who love him, who rely on him..." Gabby smile a little, matt was working to calm the man down, it sounded like it was working as well, she relaxed a little in shays touch, until matt spoke again, "...if you want someone...take me..."

She frozen, how could be give himself up like that? What the hell was he doing? He was crazy; she was going to kill him. God she hoped he was joking. She lost focus on what was being said from that point her stomach dropping, hands shaking, fear taking over, anger mixing. She knew Matt was talking again but she couldn't focus until the next sentence slipped from his mouth, "Take me, let him go and you've got a better chance of getting out of here in once piece."

Locking her jaw, gabby crossed her arms over her chest, she was angry now. How could he willingly be putting his life in danger, granted it was to look after one of his men but he was acting like it was just him he had to think about, like he didn't have a family to think about? She couldn't fault him for wanting to look after Hermann, he was being protective, however she just couldn't see past the fact that he was willing to get hurt.

Anger, frustration and fear filled her as silence filled the air until a gunshot rang out, echoing through the street, Gabby gasped taking a step closer to shay, she was shaking, what if something had happened to Matt? What if he got hurt? What if he died? Tear stung her eyes; connecting with Boden's for a moment, he conveyed strength towards her, wanting her to understand that it was going to be ok.

Moments passed, Gabby's heart clenched, her stomach dropped and her stand shook. What was going on? Where was he? Was he ok? But her questions were answered when she saw Matt and the rest of 81 walking their way. She sighed in relief, but there was something else, she was furious with him, clearly he had not thought about her or James when making the decisions he made, hadn't even given a second thought about how it would affect her and James if something had happened to them.

She watched as he went straight to Boden, they spoke for a few minutes before his eyes flashed over to hers, connecting instantly. Moving away from Boden gabby watched him come towards her but she didn't want to deal with him right then.

With her back to him, she ignored him, hoping he would get the idea when he came to stand by her side. When she didn't acknowledge him, she felt the weight of his hand in her back, "Gabby are you alright?" But all she could do was shrug his hand from her, not wanting to be close to him at that moment. She knew she and hurt him by pushing him away but she was too angry. She heard him speak again, "Gabby I-"

She snapped, turning her head to look him dead in the eye, she dropped her voice, not wanting to give away the fact that anger was laced with fear. "Touch me again right now and I promise you, you will regret it." She turned from him, opening the passenger side door of the ambo and jumping in, instructing shay to drive, she couldn't let him see the tear that and slipped down her cheek.

"And she hasn't said a word to me since them. I've tried to talk to her but I get nothing, she won't even look at me..." Matt sighed, he hated that he had upset her but he just wished she would let him talk.

"Casey man, I'm sorry, i know you must be stressed out from shift but you gotta understand...she doesn't know what she would do without you. And considering it sounded like you were willingly going to hand yourself over to someone with a gun, whether you had a plan or not, she was terrified. And I know my sister, she would be thinking that you couldn't have cared less about what she was thinking, hearing you wanting to give yourself over like that."

Antonio watched as Matt groaned, he knew she was scared about losing him and it sounded like he didn't care but he hoped she was sure enough about their relationship to know that wasn't true. "I thought she would now better. I thought she would trust me, trust us enough to know that that wasn't true."

"I know man and she does, but you gotta remember she has been hurt before, she is scared..." They heard the bathroom door open and close, waiting for the bedroom door to do so however when they heard the bed covers move, they both knew that she had decided on a nap. "...I'm gonna go. I'm sure James is waiting for you. Let her sleep an then talk to her, yeah?" he rose then, heading towards the door, Matt heading to the basement at the same time.

"Oh come on! How did you get that in? I can't believe i am losing to an 11 year old!" Matt and James had been playing air hockey for about 40 minutes after Antonio had left, James seemingly forgetting about what had happened almost an hour ago when his parents had come back home. It was their 6th game, deciding that one more was needed to see who was the winner, right now, Matt was losing to the 11 year old.

"I'm gonna beat you dad!" He laughed, hitting the puck back towards matt who flicked it back, scoring and cheering.

"Don't be too sure about that kiddo, I'm coming for you!" Matt smiled back; glancing up to the scores, noting that he was still a goal down and James was one away from winning. "How about after this, we set out making some lunch, I'm sure your mum will make to eat when she wakes up." He watched as James nodded, he liked making his mum happy.

"Hey dad, why is mum angry with you?" James didn't stop playing, focusing on the game but Matt knew this was how he opened up, not having to look at someone in the eye as he spoke made it easier for to.

Matt glanced up; it didn't take a genius to see that Gabby was upset with him. "Ah I did something pretty silly yesterday while on shift, I could have gotten hurt and I scared her, that's all. Don't worry it will be alright."

James nodded, styling silent for minute, grunting when matt scored to equalise the game. "I don't want you to get hurt dad..." His voice was soft, causing Matt to look up, James scoring the winning goal, cheering as he did so. But Matt didn't care, he hated knowing that he had worried James, he had upset the two most important people in his life, it sucked.

"Hey I'm ok kiddo, I will always come home to you and your mum, no matter what. I'm not going anywhere. I love you and I love your mum more than anything, nothing is going to change that...now lunch!" He pointed to the stairs, and motioning for James to follow him.

Gabby rolled over in bed, sighing. She had slept for a bout 40 minutes, thankful for the nap; it made her feel a little better, her anger had dissipated to annoyance now. She rolled over, part of her hopeful that Matt had come to bed with her, but his side was cold and so was she. But then she heard laughter coming from further inside the house. Getting out of bed she padded towards the living room, hearing Matt and James in the basement she went to the door, listening closely.

She listened to them laugh and joke, but was stunned for a moment when she heard James, "Hey dad, why is mum angry with you?" She sat up a little straighter, she had never heard him say dad to Matt before and she waited for Matt to stutter, stop shocked at being called 'dad' but it never came and Matt replied. He explained what had happened but then he spoke again, "Hey I'm ok kiddo, I will always come home to you and your mum, no matter what. I'm not going anywhere. I love you and I love your mum more than anything, nothing is going to change that...now lunch!"

She heard movement before she rushed off towards the bedroom again, not wanting them to know she had been listening. Closing the door quietly, Gabby pressed her back against it, breathing out deeply. How long had James been calling Matt 'dad'? Did he ask him to or had James just done it on his own? If she had thought about it, Matt was James dad, he cared more for James than she could ever have thought she was just confused as to why she didn't know about it.

Gabby allowed herself to think back to Chris, it was true that James never really knew him, he was too young to remember him now but she wondered how he would feel. She loved him; a part of her always would be she wondered if they would still be together now. Had they been too young to be together forever? She knew that Chris would want her to move on and their son to be happy, and she honestly believed that he would have liked Matt. It was hard and she was a little unsure but Matt loved her and he loved James, she wouldn't stand in the way of their relationship, in fact it did actually make her heart swell at the idea that James had found someone he could look up to.

Taking a deep breath, Gabby moved away from the door, opening it and moving back towards the kitchen, rubbing her face as though she had just woken up, smiling when she noticed Matt and James in the kitchen, pushing each other as they cooked, her family.

James had hidden himself away in the basement later that night after dinner, he wanted to give Matt and his mum time to themselves as he had seen how sad Matt was that his mum had been upset with him. And so Matt had been sitting on the couch, watching TV, beer in his hand, he hadn't spoke much to Gabby past pleasantries, not wanting to push her too much. He felt the couch dip next to him, Gabby sitting close enough that Matt noticed she had made the effort to be close to him.

Slowly he stretched his arm on the back of the couch, placing it on her shoulder, bringing her into his side, his lips touching her forehead gently, feeling her sigh deeply. Silence took over them as they become engrossed in the action on the TV. Chewing on her bottom lip, Gabby sighed, "Dad?" Her voice broke the silence, Matt looked down at her shocked.

She shrugged against him, "I heard you and James talking this morning. How long has be called you dad?" He looked up at him, noticing when he placed his beer on the table next to the couch, turning his body to look down at her.

"Since the day I picked him up sick from school. He called me dad but I didn't think he remembered it but he called me it again not long after." He watched her, trying to gauge her reaction but she just blinked up at him.

"I've never head him say it, I've only ever heard him call you Matt…" She was confused, unsure as to whether she had just not been paying attention or if he really had been calling him Matt when she was around.

Shifting slightly, Matt was able to bring Gabby to rest against him a little more, "He only calls me that when its just the two of us. He didn't want to upset you because he thought you would be upset because of Chris, he thought you get angry or sad because I'm not his real dad. To be honest with you, hearing him call me that was pretty amazing…" She didn't answer, just rested her head against his chest, getting lost in her thoughts. "Are you ok with that? You're not upset are you?"

This time she pulled away from his chest, staring deeply into his eyes, her hand coming up to caress his cheek. Slowly she leaned down and placed a gently kiss to his lips, "Matt knowing that he has you in his life makes me so very happy. I have no problems with him calling you dad and I know that Chris would be happy to know he is being cared for by someone who loves him so much."

She then paused, watching him smile back at her, a smile that warmed her heart, the annoyance and anger she had felt earlier that day and the day before slipping away. "Matt I'm sorry that I was angry yesterday, you just…you scared me so much that I didn't know how to react. I shouldn't have gotten angry, I know you were looking out for Hermann, just…" she brushed her hand against his face once more, "…hearing you talk the way you did it scared me so much. Like we didn't mean enough for you to consider before throwing yourself willing into harms way. And I know, rationally that's not true but you…I was just scared."

Matt sighed against her, holding her close, "I'm so sorry baby, I was just concerned about Hermann. When I am on a call, I have to fight to not let my mind wander to you and James because I know that it will change the calls that I make and I can't have that because I know that I would think about myself and I need to make sure I am thinking about my men. I am sorry you had to hear that Gabby, but I'm not going anywhere, I love you and will fight to come home to you no matter what."

She smiled down at him, nodding. The apology they both gave enough to settle them, bringing them both back into each other's arms. "So I was thinking, Saturday is our one year…how about we go out to dinner, you me and James and then drop James off at Shay and Kelly's. Have a bit of fun…" he whispered in her ear, feeling her shiver and nod against him.

They spent the next hour on the couch, Gabby falling asleep in Matt's arms before he carried her to bed, placing her down with a small kiss on her lips, curling her into his arms, settling in for the night, his thoughts on the weekend coming.

Because you all were excited about James calling Matt 'dad' I figured I'd give you all a little more on it…hope it was worth it.