They'd been stopped at the light long enough that Casey saw it change from red to green but they still weren't moving. He looked over at Severide, who he'd rode to work with because his truck needed a new tire, and they'd decided to go out somewhere for breakfast, and even though they had the right of way, the Squad lieutenant just seemed to be staring ahead blankly.

"Uh, Kelly?"

"Huh?"

Casey gestured towards the light, it was fortunate there wasn't anyone behind them in traffic. Matt hadn't really paid attention to the way they'd gone after leaving 51, but he finally realized what it was Kelly was staring at across the intersection.

The diner.

The very place where this whole nightmare had started.

"Kelly?"

Severide turned and looked at Matt and told him earnestly, "I...I can't go in...I just can't..."

Casey nodded in understanding. "It's okay, Kelly."

Kelly hit the turn signal and went around the block, "I really thought...I didn't think it would..."

"I understand," Matt told him. "It's fine."

They rode on in silence for several blocks until they came to another diner. Kelly found a spot to park, turned the car off, and just sat there for a minute, not moving, not doing anything.

"You okay?" Casey asked.

"Yeah," Kelly answered hesitantly. "I just never thought this part of it would be so hard."

Casey reached over and slipped an arm behind Kelly's back and pulled the dark haired man towards him, silently offering all his support.

"It's okay, Kelly."

They sat there for another minute and Severide didn't seem in any hurry to get out.

"Do you just want to go home?" Casey asked. They'd had a long night and not much sleep, but he wouldn't mind cooking if it'd be easier for Kelly.

The Squad lieutenant shook his head, "No...no, I'm fine...I can do this..."

"If you can't," Casey offered, "we can leave, it's no problem."

Kelly nodded anxiously, "I know."

"So you got anything planned for after next shift?" Kelly asked Casey as they were walking through the corridors of 51. It had been a few shifts since he came back on full duty, and he seemed to be as much his old self again as he was ever going to be, and Matt was thrilled for him and he knew everyone else was too.

"I had a construction job lined up but the guy called back and said he went with someone else," Matt said.

"Bastard," Kelly said with a small laugh.

Casey shrugged, "I don't know, after this week I don't feel like doing much aside from sleeping in, drinking a couple dozen beers and watching the hockey game on TV."

"Sounds like a plan," Kelly replied, then skidded to a stop with a noisy squeal of his boot, a look of shock on his face.

"What is it?" Casey asked, and saw he was looking ahead toward the apparatus floor. He turned and saw a group of people there speaking with Boden.

"No!" Kelly said in a horrified whisper as he took a step back.

"What is it?" Casey asked. He looked at Kelly, and the people out there, they were men and women of assorted ages and races, none of them looked familiar to him.

"It's them," Kelly said in a hissed whisper.

"Who?" Matt asked.

Kelly looked like he was in excruciating pain as he answered, "The people from the diner."

Casey's bottom jaw dropped as he took in this bit of information. He looked at them, and at Kelly, and tried to figure this out. He looked again, and he recognized the white haired old lady who'd spoken to them at the hospital, and she appeared to be the one in charge speaking to Boden.

"Kelly..."

Severide shook his head.

Casey had a feeling he knew why they were there, and he could appreciate Kelly didn't want to see them, but he honestly believed it was in his best friend's best interest right now. He calmly grabbed the sleeve of Kelly's shirt and nudged him forward, and assured him, "It'll be alright, Kelly. Come on."

"No, no, no, I can't do this!" Kelly insisted as Casey subtly dragged him along.

Wallace heard them coming and turned towards the two lieutenants. "Lieutenant Matt Casey...Lieutenant Kelly Severide...uh..." it was obvious Boden himself was unsure how to explain their presence, "you have some visitors, who'd like to talk to you."

Casey glanced over and saw a deer-in-headlights look frozen on Kelly's face as they made their way forward. He hoped whatever was about to happen wasn't going to be too painful for Kelly.

The little white haired woman with glasses marched over to Kelly and started crying as she put her arms around him, which barely came above his waist. Kelly stood there, his feet frozen to the ground and a confused look on his face before the woman was able to form the words to explain she was so happy to see that he was alright, and how brave it had been for him to put himself in jeopardy to save all of them. Casey started to get the idea from watching everybody's body language and seeing most of them looked as uncomfortable as Kelly did, that this little old grandmother had been the driving force behind bringing everybody down there to offer Kelly their sincere gratitude for what he'd done for them. A few of the other women hugged him one by one, most kept a healthy distance as they thanked him, Casey realized, probably with a better understanding of what he was going through than the others, some shook his hand, and several of them apologized for not doing this sooner, but pointed out the old woman had been checking in with 51 every week to see if he had returned to work. Each time she either got First or Third Watch because she couldn't quite grasp the 24 on/48 off policy, once they'd told her Severide was back to work, she decided to give it a couple weeks to let him ease back into the job before they came down to see him.

"I really...I don't know what to say," Kelly told the group of people, "I...I'm just glad that you all got out of there safe...and...and I really appreciate you being here today..."

Casey had let the others know that the locker room was off limits until further notice, they had been very understanding about it. He locked the door to make sure no one came in and he made his way over to Kelly, who was curled on the floor with his arms wrapped tight around himself as he rocked back and forth, having what Casey believed to be a full blown anxiety attack as the Squad lieutenant's breaths came out in haggard gasps as if he couldn't get enough oxygen. Casey got down on the floor next to him and carefully put his arms around Severide and pulled the other man against him and calmly told him, "I'm proud of you, Kelly, I know that wasn't easy."

Kelly sucked in a few particularly large breaths that came back out in the noisiest exhales Matt had ever heard, and shakily replied, "I...can't believe...they did that...I can't believe they came here..."

"You're a hero, Kelly," Matt told him, feeling his eyes stinging with tears from what he'd just witnessed, "some people in this city still appreciate heroes."

Casey simultaneously felt Kelly's upper body go rigid in his arms, and felt Kelly's legs start trembling as he started hyperventilating. Casey maintained a hold on him and calmly talked him through it as he got his best friend to slow his breathing until the spasm finally passed.

When Kelly finally calmed down, Casey asked him softly, "Do you want to go home? I can talk to Boden and-"

Kelly shook his head, his voice also shook but he was determined as he insisted, "No, no...I'm...I'll be fine..." he turned his head to look at Matt and asked, "Leaders lead from the front, right?"

Matt smiled at him and nodded in response.

"Are you sure about this, Kelly?" Casey asked as they got out of his car and walked up to the diner.

It had been three weeks since the meeting on the apparatus floor, Kelly was still seeing a therapist and it seemed to be doing some good. He'd kept himself composed as he pulled onto this block and parked his car at the curb.

"Yeah," Severide nodded, "it's time."

"If this is what you want to do," Casey said.

"I have to, Matt."

"I understand..."

"But...you'll come in with me, right?"

Casey nodded, "Of course I will."

Kelly nodded, looking just a little unsure of himself. "Thanks."

The two men entered the diner, the bell above the door jangled, a few people turned and looked up, Casey recognized a couple waitresses from the firehouse but all the people eating there looked like a batch of strangers. Kelly slowly looked around at everyone, and then forced himself to take a step forward, and another, and another, until he and Casey both sat down at the counter.

A waitress came and brought them each a menu and took out her notepad to take their orders. Casey glanced over at Kelly, who seemed to be blankly staring at his menu before he finally answered, "Scrambled eggs and hash browns, and black coffee."

"I'll have the same and a glass of orange juice," Casey added as they handed back their menus.

While they waited for their food, Casey noted Kelly looking around here and there.

"You okay?" he asked.

Kelly turned towards him and just nodded.

The bell jangled again as the door opened, Kelly's head spun so fast Casey was surprised he didn't give himself a whiplash. A mother in her late 20s and her two kids who looked like they were in kindergarten came in and they got a table at the booths. Kelly turned back to the front and closed his eyes as he about rested his forehead on the countertop.

"If you want to leave-"

"No," Kelly shook his head as he picked it up again, "I'm okay. It's just going to take a while, right?"

Casey nodded, "Right..."

"It couldn't...possibly...happen again."

Casey shook his head, "No, it couldn't."

"I'm okay," Kelly said again, sounding more to convince himself than his friend, "I can do this."

The bell jangled again, Kelly tensed when he felt Casey's hand on his back, a silent way of letting him know that he'd look this time.

"Guy in a suit," Casey told him. "My guess, scrambled eggs and ketchup."

Kelly's face scrunched up in a grimace. "Who eats that?"

"Beats me," Casey replied.

The waitress returned with their food and they ate mostly in silence, every so often the bell would jangle when someone came in or left, Kelly glanced towards the door each time but from what Casey saw, it wasn't anything to be concerned about.

After breakfast they paid the tab, left a tip for the waitress and left.

"So, how do you feel?" Casey asked as they headed back to Kelly's car.

Kelly looked over at him and after a few seconds he answered, "It...I'm...I'll be coming back...it might take a few times to get used to it again, but I've been coming here for years...that bastard's not going to take that away from me. He's not taking anything else away from me."

Casey felt like he was beaming from ear to ear when Kelly said that.

"You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that," he replied.

They got in the car and Kelly reached over and hugged Casey tight, taking the blonde man off guard.

"Thanks for helping me through this, Casey," he said honestly, "I know I haven't made it easy for you."

Casey was having trouble breathing as he patted Kelly on the back and pointed out, "Firefighters don't do anything easy."

Kelly laughed, "True." He finally pulled away from Casey who felt his ribs and sucked in a breath as he turned forward in his seat.

"Let's go home."