I do not own Chicago Fire or any of its characters or anything to do with it.
It was a chilly spring morning and Charlie had volunteered to help her dad hand out t-shirts at the booth. Station 51 had a booth at the 10K race for cancer outside Chicago Med. She was hoping to stay on his good side because her birthday was in a few weeks and also a driver's ed course at school was starting at the end of April. One of the last steps she needed to take before getting her licenses.
"Thanks again for helping Charlie," said her dad as they hung the last of the signs.
"No problem" responded Charlie.
"You helping out wouldn't have anything to do with your birthday coming up and the driver's ed course would it?" asked her dad with a smirk.
"What, no," lied Charlie.
"Good, because I already signed you up for that last week," he replied with a smile.
"Really, thanks," said Charlie smiling "guess there's no need for me to stay" she joked.
"Very funny" replied Matt.
"Really?" asked Gabby sitting down a box full of t-shirts "goat shirts?"
"Those are collectors items" responded Matt.
"Yeah, garbage collectors," said Gabby under her breath, which caused Charlie to chuckle.
"I always meant to ask, why a goat?" asked Charlie.
"Don't let your dad hear that" said Gabby "and it depends who you ask. Everyone has a different story."
"So no one knows," said Charlie.
"Exactly" replied Gabby.
"You guys going to run the 10k?" asked a fellow firefighter.
"I am, Casey chickened out" responded Gabby helping Charlie unload the box of shirts.
"I'm more of a sprinter" responded Casey.
"Heard you're going to introduce the commissioner later," said the other firefighter.
"Yeah, not sure how that fell on me," said Casey.
"Dad are you serious?" asked Charlie already knowing why they had asked him.
"Well a ceiling fell on you why you were saving a baby, baby" replied Gabby. "Hey it's Kim right?" she asked a woman across from them.
"Yeah, hey" responded the woman.
"Do you need some help?" asked Gabby.
"I-I kind of have no idea what I'm doing" admitted Kim.
"She was part of the team that got Diego back," said Gabby to Matt.
"On it" replied Matt, going to help "firefighters bailing out cops is a long tradition" he joked.
"Need some help there?" asked Charlie kneeling down next to the little girl. "I'm Charlie," she said to the girl.
"Zoe" replied the girl smiling at her "is that your dad?" she asked, pointing to Matt.
"That's what they tell me," joked Charlie.
"This is my niece Zoe," said Kim smiling at them.
"How old are you Zoe?" asked Matt.
"I'm nine" replied Zoe as she and Charlie stood up.
"Really? Let me see your driver's license" joked Matt.
"I'm nine too," said another little girl coming up to them.
"Well you're the designated driver because she doesn't have her licenses" joked Matt, both girls giggled.
"Look at you with the dad jokes already" joked Charlie with a smile.
"Imogene, don't bother them while they're setting up," said a woman walking up.
"She's fine," said Charlie.
"Oh, yeah it's totally fine" replied Kim.
"Do you want to see them unload the animals for the petting zoo?" asked Imogene to Zoe.
"Go," said Kim "stay where I can see you." Charlie went back to helping Gabby unload shirts. She heard Gabby introduce herself to the woman, Dr. Thelan, who turned out to be the new pediatrician at the hospital.
"I need to get started with registration," said Gabby to Charlie.
"Good luck, I'll be rooting for you," said Charlie with a smile. Gabby went to fill in her dad as well.
Her dad helped her finish setting up. "I'm going to make sure Gabby gets registered alright," he said "I'll be back in a few minutes." Charlie just gave a nod of approval as he left.
Charlie was staring at the blue and white roof of the tent, why was she staring at the roof and why was she on the ground. She could not hear anything except for a loud ringing in her ears. She was double-checking everything in the booth and the next thing she knew she was on the ground. Had a car hit the booth?
She slowly sat up mentally checking over her body. Other than sore from being knocked down and a swollen wrist she seemed to be fine. Her eyes finally seemed to focus on what was going on around her and her hearing seemed to return. It was obvious that a bomb had gone off and it was very obvious she was lucky and not hurt.
She carefully stood up and balanced herself. She could now hear so many noises and the worst seemed to be the screaming. She could also smell many different things including smoke from fires that had happened because of the bomb. She needed to find her dad, he had barely left the booth when the bomb hit.
She ran toward where she had last seen her dad before the blast. She passed by someone who was very obviously dead. She bit back a sob, she was terrified and she needed to find her dad. She finally spotted him lying in the road, he was not moving.
"Please be alive" she muttered to herself kneeling down beside him. She felt for a pulse and let a sigh of relief when she felt one. Her dad began to stir his eyes, blinking open. His eyes looking around probably trying to take everything in and figure out what was happening just like she had a few minutes ago.
"Dad, are you okay?" she asked. Her dad still seemed to be in shock as he sat up.
"Dad!" she cried finally snapping him out of his shock. He looked at her and grabbed her face searching her over.
"Are you alright?!" asked her dad, Charlie just shook her head yes. Matt let her go and slowly stood up, Charlie following his lead. A black cloud of dust blew out of the building as papers rained down on them.
"Stay on my hip do you understand me!" said Casey. Charlie again nodded her head yes and followed her dad towards the victims. As they got closer Charlie could almost smell a metallic smell of blood. They passed a man with his legs blown off, there were so many people covered in blood. Charlie felt herself shaking, it was almost surreal like this could not be happening.
Charlie looked around frantically and spotted two familiar figures. "Dad," she said pulling on his coat, his dad looked over and saw them as well.
"Girls" he cried, running over Charlie right behind him. Both girls appeared to be injured and another man was trying to help.
Her dad was talking to the man as Charlie tried to help the kids. "It's going to be alright," said Charlie trying to keep herself and the girls calm.
"Vaughan I need you to run around to the other side of the hospital and see if the ICU is intact," said Matt, suddenly the man collapsed.
"Zoe!" screamed Kim rushing in, Charlie backed up to let her in and give her space. Dr. Thelan appeared as well.
"Imogene got knocked on the head, Zoe said her stomach hurts. This guy just passed out" said her dad filling them in.
Dr. Thelan quickly assessed them, both girls seemed to have non-life-threatening injuries.
"Dad what do we do?" asked Charlie who was now shaking. She wanted to be anywhere but here.
Her dad was looking around "ER is gone, we'll use that tent as triage" he said to her, Kim, and Dr. Thelan. Both the doctor and Kim carried the girls over.
"Everyone!" cried Matt "this tent will serve as triage! Start moving people off the street and out of the rubble. Anyone that can help, help us!" Charlie nodded in agreement setting her mind to that and trying to ignore the terror she felt.
She saw a woman sitting nearby with some cuts on her face and she was holding her leg. She was covered in soot but did not appear to be badly injured.
"Are you alright?" asked Charlie kneeling down beside her.
"I think I broke my ankle," said the woman was still clearly in shock.
"Let me help you up and we'll have someone look," she said, helping her up and putting her arm around her. The woman leaned her weight on Charlie as Charlie steered them toward the tent.
"I think something may have exploded," said the woman taking everything in, the shock seemed to be slowly wearing off.
"I think you're right," said Charlie helping her sit down beside the tent "someone will help you soon, just stay here" she ordered. She ran back to help some more, she saw 51 pulling up on the scene. She saw her dad talking to chief Boden, probably filling him in on what he knew.
"Charlie!" he said spotting her "I'm going to help, stay with the triage tent do you hear me" he ordered. "Help out however you can, but stay there you'll be safe" Charlie just nodded seeing all the different people helping out. Then a thought struck her that made her stomach go cold.
"Dad, where's Gabby?! She went to register and I haven't seen her since" said Charlie.
"Dawson's in there?" asked Severide overhearing her.
"I think so" replied Matt.
"We'll get her," said Severide trying to reassure both Matt and Charlie.
"Charlie go back to the tent," said her dad "we'll bring her back I promise." Charlie just nodded leaving to go back to the tent as Matt went to join the others.
She went back to the tent to see how she could help out, there were so many people injured. She spotted Imogene and Zoe with Kim.
"Hey Zoe, remember me," she said kneeling down beside her, giving her a smile.
"Charlie, you're Daddy asked me for my licenses," said Zoe before letting out a groan of pain. Kim was trying her best to soothe her. "Are you alright?" Kim asked, looking at Charlie.
"Fine" replied Charlie. "How about when we're all done here I get a super cool goat firefighter t-shirt?" asked Charlie to Zoe trying to take her mind off the pain. "You to Imogene, how does that sound?"
"Sounds pretty cool," said Kim trying to play along.
"Why does it have a goat?" asked Imogene.
"That is a super top secret story, sorry I can't tell you" joked Charlie.
"It hurts so bad," said Zoe moaning in pain.
"She says it's getting worse," said Kim to Dr. Thelan. She heard them talking about Imogene and Zoe as Shay and her new partner appeared.
"You alright Charlie?" asked Shay, laying a hand on her shoulder.
"Fine, just a twisted wrist. My friend Zoe here is not feeling too good" said Charlie.
"Is this your girl?" asked Shay to Kim.
"No, I'm her aunt. I've been trying to call my sister but I can't get through."
"She says she has stomach pain, We need to take a look in there somehow, now. I'm going to head inside and see if radiology is up in running" replied Dr. Thelan.
"Alright, I'll go with you. There's more injured inside I want to help" replied Shay.
"I'll work here," replied Rafferty. "Radio me as soon as you know a C.T scanner is up."
"Will do" replied Shay. "Hang tough kid," she said to Charlie before heading towards the building.
"Girls be strong. Im take care of Zoe, I'll be back" said Dr. Thelan.
"I'll stay with her," said Charlie trying to reassure the doctor. The doctor gave her a nod of gratitude before disappearing.
Charlie went over and stood beside Imogene. "I'm here if you need me," she told her, giving the girl a reassuring smile. Both of them looked over toward Zoe.
"Zoe squeeze the pain into me I can take it," said Imogene, taking Zoe's hand. Charlie gave her a smile, how could one little girl be so brave. She looked towards the building and saw firefighters digging out people. She couldn't tell who was who but she knew that her dad would not give up until he found Gabby.
After a few minutes, Imogene felt well enough to stand. Charlie wrapped her in a blanket to keep her warm and from going into shock. Imogene stood by Zoe holding her hand. Soon Rafferty returned.
"Let's see what's going on with Zoe," said Rafferty making her way towards them.
"I'm coming too," said Imogene.
"Sweetie, you should stay here," said Rafferty.
"She's my friend and I'm coming" replied Imogene, Rafferty just nodded.
"Guys I need a lift," said Rafferty to a couple of firefighters.
All three of them stood back as Zoe was lifted and carried into the ER.
"You're going to be fine Zoe, you'll feel better soon," said Charlie trying to reassure Zoe along with her aunt.
"Thank you," said Kim, throwing her a grateful smile before she and Imogene followed Zoe into the hospital. She looked around wondering how she could help out.
"How can I help?" she asked a passing EMT. "I want to help."
"See all the green tags?" asked the EMT, Charlie nodded. "It means minor injuries. It might be a while until they get medical attention. See if they need blankets or anything to keep them comfortable. Help them out until they get medical attention. Can you do that?" asked the EMT. Charlie nodded as the EMT went back to work.
Charlie grabbed some blankets and a first aid kit. She went around to the green tags sitting by the tent. She made sure they were comfortable handing out blankets and supplies so people could start to bandage themselves up.
She would go back every so often to grab what supplies she could without getting in the way. She stopped and took a breather for a second. She looked toward the building to see if there was any sign of Gabby yet. She looked down at her own wrist which was throbbing. She flexed it back and forth, it hurt but she could do it. She was pretty sure that it was not broken, just a sprain. She would take care of it later at home.
She looked up towards the building as she caught her breath. She saw all the firefighters stop and they were looking around. They all rushed to one spot and started digging, they must have heard someone down there. She heard all of the men cheering, whoever it was, was alive. She really hoped it was Gabby.
She ran up to the sidewalk and stopped by the truck to stay out of the way. She saw them lower the basket down to get whoever it was. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw them bring the basket up with Gabby inside. She had a gash on her head but other than that she appeared to be alright. As soon as Gabby was set down she let herself out of the basket and hug her dad.
"Gabby," she said rushing over "are you alright?" she asked, hugging her as her dad let go.
"I'm fine," said Gabby hugging her back tightly "are you alright?" asked Gabby looking her up and down.
"Fine, I'm not the one who had a building fall on me" replied Charlie hugging her again.
"Are you alright?" she asked her dad as she finally let go of Gabby.
"Fine" replied Matt other than being covered in soot and dirt he appeared to be unharmed.
"I brought water," she said pointing to the case of water. The men gratefully passed around the water and they looked exhausted.
The commissioner showed up and tried to relieve station 51 but they decided to stay and help out.
"I think you should head home," said Matt to Gabby. Before Gabby could argue Matt continued "you literally had a building on you and plus Charlie. She needs to get out of here and go home where it is safe. I need both of you safe, please get checked out and head home."
Gabby just took a breath and nodded. "Hey Charlie, come with me to the triage?" asked Gabby.
"Alright" agreed Charlie, she really did not want to leave her dad but there was nothing more she could do.
"I'll see you at home later," said Matt dropping a quick kiss on top of Charlie's head before going to join the others.
"Are you really alright?" asked Charlie concerned as she walked with Gabby to the tent.
"I'm fine" reassured Gabby, Charlie just nodded.
An EMT checked over Gabby and cleared her. She told Charlie signs to look out for a head injury that would require Charlie to bring Gabby back. Charlie nodded taking in the instructions.
Luckily Gabby had parked her car a few blocks away so her car was not in the crime scene. They wordlessly got in into the car, Charlie looked at the clock it was not even noon yet and this day seemed to have already lasted a week.
"I don't know about you but I think I need a shower" joked Gabby trying to break the tension.
"Yeah," said Charlie looking down at herself. She was covered in dirt, soot and god knows what else. The rest of the drive was in silence, both of them wrapped up in their own thoughts.
When they finally got home they headed to both bathrooms eager to wash the day of them. Charlie scrubbed herself clean and noticed a nice bruise forming on her left hip. Her left hip and wrist must have taken the brunt of her weight when the bomb knocked her down. She pulled on some sweats and made her way to the kitchen where they kept the large first aid kit. She was digging around in it looking for an ace bandage for her wrist.
"What are you looking for?" said Gabby coming into the kitchen.
"Nothing," said Charlie instinctively hiding her arm.
"Let me see?" said Gabby, narrowing her eyes at her. Charlie let out a sigh holding out her arm.
"Charlie you said you were fine," said Gabby examining her wrist.
"I think after the events of today a sore wrist is the definition of fine" replied Charlie looking at the butterfly tape on Gabby's wound.
"Bend it for me," said Gabby, Charlie bent it hissing at the pain.
"Does this hurt?" asked Gabby pushing on a certain spot, Charlie winced and nodded.
"It just a bad sprain, let me help you wrap it," said Gabby taking an ace bandage out of the first aid kit and wrapping her wrist.
"Feel better?" asked Gabby, Charlie nodded.
"You hungry?" asked Gabby, Charlie shook her head no. "Me neither" muttered Gabby.
"I was going to watch the news to see if there is anything new," said Charlie. She thought about texting her dad but she knew he was busy and would check-in when he could.
"Okay," said Gabby following her. They both watched the news for a while after a few hours pictures popped up on the screen showing the suspects they had in custody and the suspect they were trying to find.
"Oh my God!" cried Charlie as the one name and picture showed up on the screen.
"What?" asked Gabby.
"He-he was there, it looked like he was helping, dad, helped - I" she babbled in shock.
"Slow down," said Gabby "take a breath, what happened?"
Charlie took a breath collecting herself. She told Gabby the whole story of that morning. Finding her dad, the girls, Vaughan 'helping', her staying in the tent to help out until they had found her (Gabby).
"I'm sorry," said Gabby. She could tell that Gabby was upset that a man was near her and especially her dad. "I'm sure Zoe and Imogene are fine, we can find out tomorrow. As for you, you may not know it but you did good today, you helped those people."
"Thanks, I don't know how you and dad do it. Both of you were so calm I was beyond terrified" said Charlie.
"Training, it all had to do with training. You go into this mode where you just focus on what you have to do" finished Gabby. "Trust me you did great today." Charlie just nodded gratefully.
A few hours later they heard the front door open. Matt came in covered in dirt and looked exhausted.
"Dad!" cried Charlie surprised she ran over and hugged him she had not expected to see him tonight.
"Hello to you too" joked her dad tiredly.
"Here sit," said Gabby as Charlie let go, Matt exhaustedly collapsed onto the couch.
"We heard the whole story as it broke on the news, they caught all the bombers," said Gabby.
"They did, unfortunately, the death toll is now at twenty-two" he finished wearily rubbing at his face. "I think we finished digging everyone out. You should know Shay was injured as well."
"What!?" said Gabby surprised. Matt told them everything he knew.
"Of course she kept going with a life-threatening injury" muttered Gabby.
"You would have done the same thing" stated Charlie. "Did you hear anything about Imogene or Zoe?" she asked.
Matt's face took on a look of sadness. "I checked before I left, I'm so sorry," he told her about how Imogene had died but had saved the life of Zoe.
"She seemed fine," said Charlie with tears in her eyes. "To think that man, the man who did this tried to touch her, to help her."
"Charlie I am sorry, you should have never seen what you saw today. I should have never taken you" said Matt.
"Matt, there's no way you could have known," said Gabby "that any of us could have known."
"She's right dad," said Charlie with a sad smile "it was a fundraiser, a family event. I'm not going to lie, some of the things I saw aren't going away anytime soon. But none of it is your fault" finished Charlie.
"You really are a great kid," said Matt giving her a smile.
"You really are a great dad," said Charlie returning the smile "I'm glad I found you."
The ending is a little sappy but was not sure how to end it. The next chapter will take place before and during the season 2 season finale.