A/N: Another slight filler chapter. But I love the relationship dynamics in the last scene even if there's not a lot of action involved. I hope you do too!

Happy reading!

angellwings

"There's a hole in the bottle,

Leakin' all this wine.

It's already empty and it ain't even suppertime.

Honey, no, I don't miss him,

In fact, it slipped my mind.

There's a hole in the bottle of wine."

"Hole in the Bottle" by Kelsea Ballerini

It's nearly midnight and still no word from Pete. No doubt he's avoiding her now. She vents to the girls about Pete. They assure her she's done nothing wrong and it's probably something he's going through apart from her. They talk about Grant and it becomes increasingly clear that Grant is unreliable and selfish and Stella deserves better. She and Shay try to tell Stella that in words that aren't quite so blunt.

Stella's doing the right thing by leaving him. She can't live her entire life caught up in a one sided toxic relationship. Sylvie knows that better than most.

Shay has a blast getting drunk and talking about other people's problems. Sylvie knows she needed to feel useful. To contribute to something. There's not much she can do in the arson investigation, but she can make margaritas and help her friends.

That's how they learn about the dedication service. Next week, they're having a ceremony to dedicate 61 to Gabriela Dawson. Chief wants Shay or Matt to say a few words. Sylvie hasn't known him long but even she knows Matt doesn't feel words are his strong suit. (She disagrees given how often and how well he's managed to comfort her through her doubts. He says the right thing when it matters whether he realizes that or not.) Speaking at the ceremony will fall to Shay.

"I want to make her proud, you know?" Shay says through a sniffle.

"Then say that," Sylvie suggests. "From what you guys have told me, her imprint on the house will never really go away. If honoring her memory means making her proud then say exactly that. That sentiment is beautiful."

Shay nods and takes a long sip of her margarita. "You're right. I'm making this too complicated."

"No," Stella corrects her. "You want your words to be beautiful. For Gabby. There's nothing wrong with that. I think Sylvie's point is simply that you should...speak from the heart. That's all Gabby would ever want."

Stella actually knew Gabby so Sylvie takes her word for it. Shay agrees wholeheartedly so it must be accurate. Not for the first time, Sylvie wishes she could have known Gabby. She looms over 51 at every turn. Maybe if Sylvie had known her she wouldn't seem so legendary and filling her shoes wouldn't feel so daunting. Then again, maybe knowing her wouldn't have changed anything. Gabriela Dawson seems like a person everyone loved. Knowing her wouldn't have made being her replacement on 51 any less intimidating.

They all wake up late the next morning and Sylvie still doesn't have any calls from Pete. She's too hungover to deal with that at the moment, but she sends out another quick text anyway. All she wants is for him to tell her he's okay. Even if it's a lie. At least if he texts her back she'll know he's not mad at her. As it stands now she has no idea what's going on with him and that's torture.

She groans as she crawls out of bed and into the kitchen. Her head is killing her and her stomach is unsettled. She's grateful they got drunk at home. Who knows how she might have embarrassed herself if they went to Molly's.

Stella and Shay are already awake and sipping coffee when she walks into the room. They take in her sour expression and wince.

"Still no word from Mills?" Shay asks.

"Radio silence," Brett confirms. "I hope he's okay."

"He's got a lot going on right now," Kidd reminds her. "I'm sure he just needed a day to process all of it."

"Maybe," Sylvie concedes. "I give up. If he wants to talk to me then he will. I'm not going to push it anymore."

There's a knock on the door and Stella walks away to answer it. She comes back with Peter Mills trailing behind her like a lost puppy, looking apologetic and ashamed.

"Good to know you're alive," Sylvie mutters with a scoff.

He cringes and ducks his head. "I deserve that. I'm sorry. I should have called you back."

"We're just gonna go," Shay says with a forced smile as she grabs Stella's arm and pulls her away. "We'll be in Stella's room if you need us."

Sylvie and Pete watch them go. He doesn't turn back around to face her until Stella's bedroom door is closed.

"I did something stupid yesterday," Mills admits as he steps closer to her. "And I didn't want to tell you about it so I…"

"Avoided me?" Sylvie asks with an eyeroll. "Yeah I got that much."

"I made an appointment with that counsellor for today," he states in lieu of explaining himself. "You're right. I need to talk to someone. I'm not fine."

She props her hip against the counter and meets his eyes this time. That's a sharp turn around from yesterday. The anger dissipates from her expression and is replaced with worry. "What happened to change your mind?"

"A call got under my skin and I took it too far," he confesses. "A domestic abuse call. This guy was beating his wife and she didn't want to come forward about it. The first call it looked like he hit her pretty hard. The second call she ended up in the ER. Two calls in the same shift, Sylvie. I...I lost it. I'm just so angry all the time. About the abduction, about the arson. I can't shake it."

She steps closer to him and wraps her hands around his. His knuckles look bloody and swollen. He's cleaned the wounds and the swelling is minor, but she can tell a difference. "What did you do?"

"I came up with a bogus reason to go back to that house - to see the husband."

Oh god. "Did you…?"

"I did. And I threatened him. He was going to get away with it and I couldn't stand by and just let him hurt that woman. But there were other ways to handle it and instead of stepping back and finding one of those ways I let my anger get the best of me," he tells her as his voice drops into a hoarse whisper. "I couldn't face you after that. Not until I sorted myself out. So, I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to see me like that and I didn't want to tell you about what I'd done."

"Peter, I asked you to clamp a guy's carotid artery and give him a stroke. I have absolutely no room to judge you on anything. Yes, what you're saying upsets me but not because I'm angry. Because I'm worried. I don't want you to risk your job and I don't want to lose you to your anger, even if that anger is understandable. I'm glad you're going to see the counsellor. I think it'll really help. My appointment yesterday was certainly helpful for me," she says encouragingly. "I don't want you to hide your struggles from me, Pete. If you do then what are we doing? I mean, I avoided you after the abduction and it didn't help anything. I should have come to you immediately after. I see that now. I hope you see that you can trust me too."

"I do, Sylvie," he assures her as he brings the back of her fingers to his lips. "It won't happen again."

"Good," she says with a relieved sigh. "Now, can you make it up to me by cooking us some hangover eggs? We had a few too many margaritas last night."

He laughs and nods before kissing her forehead quickly. "I'm on it. Is your sink still jacked up? Cause I can have a look at that while I'm here."

"Yes, that would be amazing," she tells him with a warm smile. "Thank you."

"I brought my sister's old coffee table from college too," he tells her as he pulls out the ingredients he needs from her fridge. "I heard you say you needed one and she was more than happy to get rid of it. I'll unload it after I cook you ladies breakfast."

"You're amazing," she tells him with a hesitant smile. "But if you ever ignore me again, I will not be so quick to forgive. Are we clear?"

His expression turns somber as he nods and looks her directly in the eyes. "We're clear."

When Matt sees Sylvie again next shift she looks much lighter than she did before. He breathes a sigh of relief and waves as he passes her. That girls night must have been exactly what she needed. They don't get time to talk. The bells ring before either of them can get breakfast.

They're called to a secure building with a fire in a locked down section. They have to cut out a window to reach the victim and Matt nearly gets dropped by a beam from the ceiling. Despite breathing in too much smoke, he manages to get the man to safety so they can knock down the fire.

The minute he steps outside Brett is on him while Shay checks the victim.

"I'm fine," he says through a few painful coughs.

She gives him a flat disbelieving look. "You took a couple of good lungfuls of smoke. Take a deep breath."

He does as he's told because, as sweet as she is, she's damn scary when she's on the job. She clears him and pats his chest twice in a reassuring gesture before walking back over to Leslie and the victim. He stares after her for a moment with a faint smile. He takes a minute to breath in fresh air before Truck goes back in for overhaul while Ambo 61 drives away.

Sylvie Brett is taking up more and more of his thoughts whether he intends her to or not. He has no idea what to do with that. He decides to ignore it like he has been for months now. Nothing's changed. He's still a fucking mess and she's happy with Mills. He has no choice but to ignore it.

Cunningham is waiting for them when they get back from their call. She wants to borrow Kelly "for intimidation" she says. They're going to the storage unit to show the owner pictures of possible suspects and see if he recognizes anyone. It's a long shot but they're grasping at straws at this point.

While he's gone Matt busies himself with incident reports and then a little cleaning in his quarters. Anything to keep him from thinking about the arson case. A few hours later, Kelly comes back. He's clearly pissed based on the way he slams the door to his quarters and then kicks the chair at his desk for good measure.

Matt opens the door and leans against the frame. "What happened?"

"We found the bastard. He all but confessed while casually eating a sandwich on his lunch break," Severide exclaims in irritation. "Cocky son of a bitch. Cunningham's gonna work on it and see if it's time to get CPD involved. He did it, Casey. I know he did it. Jesus Christ, I wanted to punch that smug bastard."

Imagining this guy walking around free, bragging about what he did makes Casey want to beat the shit out of him too. He can hardly blame Kelly.

"I'm tired of waiting on Cunningham for everything," Matt says through a clenched jaw.

"If OFI pursues the case we may not be waiting on her much longer," Severide says hopefully. "We have to give her a little more time, Case."

"It's been too long as it is," he mumbles as he walks away from Severide and back to his quarters. The dedication ceremony is next shift and they aren't any closer to putting this guy away.

The forty eight hours between shifts passes more slowly than usual, with still no word from Cunningham. He uses the break to focus on his construction gigs and it's therapeutic as hell to work until he's too tired to think.

When he walks back into 51 for the next shift, he feels nothing but relief. At least when he's doing this job he feels like he's making a difference.

For the second shift in a row, Ambo is called out before breakfast. He waves at Brett and Shay as they pass him to load up in their rig. He goes to the locker room and stashes his stuff, grabs a plate of food, and sits in the common room to finish up reports and stay connected with his guys. Sometimes he needs the quiet to work but other times he needs the reminder he's not alone.

Nearly an hour later, Leslie and Sylvie blow back into the house with Shay pestering Brett with questions as they walk.

"You sure you're okay? I mean that psycho had a knife to your throat," Shay states as she watches Sylvie reach for a coffee mug. "He freaking cut you."

Sylvie glances around the room and self consciously touches the bandage on her neck. "It was barely a knick, Shay. I'm fine."

Matt quirks a brow at them. "What happened?"

"Guy who wanted to go back to jail held a knife to her throat so he'd be called 'armed and dangerous' and be arrested. Apparently, parole was too much pressure for him," Shay informs him.

Casey stands with a furrowed brow and narrows his eyes on the bandage, concern etching into every line on his face.

Sylvie looks anywhere but at him. "Shay, you cleaned and bandaged it yourself. You know it's not a big deal."

"Physically, it's minor, but come on that was scary back there," Shay says in concern.

"It was but I'm fine now," she insists. "Trust me, I've been a lot more scared than that on this job."

That renders both him and Shay completely silent. She's right, of course. The abduction was far scarier than some guy with a knife, but the reminder feels like a splash of cold water to the face. Whether she intended it to or not. Sylvie pours herself a cup of coffee and then walks away.

"She's not the newbie she was a few months ago," Shay tells him sadly. "I kinda wish she still was."

He sighs and nods. "Me too. But it's bound to happen with a job like ours. She's okay. She seems to be adjusting fine, Shay."

"I know," she says as her brows draw together. "I just don't want her to lose that natural goodness she has, you know?"

"She won't," Matt assures her. "She's too strong to let anything take that from her."

Leslie nods. "You're right. She's better than any of us and stronger than I think even she realizes."

He completely agrees with that. Sylvie underestimates herself constantly. He realizes she doubts her ability to do this job but she's made for it. He knows that with complete certainty.

"Then it's a good thing she has us to remind her," Casey states with a firm nod.