Title: Chasing the Future
Chapter 4 – Follow the Breadcrumbs


That night he couldn't sleep; his mind a raging mix of trying to block the image of his father's dead body and trying to hold onto Erin's beautiful expression. He rolled onto his back, careful not to awaken his sleeping son and tried to force himself to think about his new job that started the following day, but all he could see was his father's dead expression as he begged for help and then took his last breath.

'Dad, I know something is up. What aren't you telling me? I overheard you mention the name Delaney. Did you mean Chris Delaney? That guy is bad news. Thought you said to stay away from him?'

'Kelly…this is…'

'He was a suspect in Shay's death! What the hell…how can you get involved with him?'

'This isn't what you think?'

'PD wants you to flip him? Seriously?'

'The less you know the better. Trust me. I want to see George grow up and follow in our footsteps. Trust me Kelly.'

'How the hell can I trust you? Everything you just said was a LIE!'

"Yeah…trust," Kelly whispered as he heard his young son let out a small sigh and couldn't help but offer a small in the dimly lit room.

'SHAYY! OPEN YOUR EYES! DAMN IT, COME BACK TO ME!'

His fists curled in the dark as he recalled having to face his young son in the ER later that same fateful day and tell him that his mother wasn't going to be coming back home with them.

You need to let Mac worry about catching the killer and focus on your new job and getting some money to give your son at least a better place to sleep at night.

But as he replayed the heated discussion over and over with his father; the last one they'd have, his heart was in anguish and ached to go back in time to try to do things differently. But then if he could do that, then he'd have been able to keep his son's mother from dying.

Damn this!

Kelly rolled onto his side and forced his eyes to close; a small attempt to try to get a few hours of sleep before a very busy day ahead.

XXXXXXXX

"Okay so I gotta figure out…"

"Where's grampa?"

Kelly looked at his son's sad expression and felt his heart droop. He took his little hand in his large one and held it firmly. "Let's talk about that later okay? Right now I gotta get ready for my new job at a new firehouse."

"Can I come see it?"

"Course. But not just yet okay? I need to get settled first. We'll read a bit more tonight okay?"

"I want a new book."

"Yeah me too," Kelly sighed as he kissed the top of his son's head and then looked at him with an adoring smile. "Ready?"

"Yah," George shrugged as Kelly gently snickered.

As much as he wanted to leave his few meager belongings in the rented room, he wasn't sure where he'd be able to spend the night at the same place, so packed up the duffle bag, took his son by the hand and then headed for the front desk.

"Morning."

"Well good morning," the front desk clerk greeted them with a smile before he down at George with a wide grin. "You movin' on already?" He asked as he nodded to the bag slung over Kelly's shoulder.

"No, I uh…force of habit I guess. But no, we'd like to keep the room tonight if possible. How much?"

"Where you off to?"

"First day of a new job. Just gotta find a daycare and…look I don't have much. Hit on hard times and just need a bit of a break to get back on my feet. In a few days, I'll have enough to hopefully stay in a hotel or…"

"What do you do for work?"

"Uh…firefighter," Kelly replied; his brain reminding him that if he was seen around the neighborhood on the job, there would be less questions asked.

"Tell you what. My mom is looking after my girls today. I think I could ask her to look after one more."

"What? No….you don't have to do that."

"I know. I want to. Trust me. He'll be safe with me. You just do what you hafta do."

"Thanks man I really appreciate it," George clasped the larger man's hand and then looked down at his son. "You're gonna go with Joe okay? I'll see you tonight."

Kelly have his son a warm hug and kiss on the cheek and then watched as an older African-American woman appeared with a kind smile and two little girls at her side.

"My Joe said I have one more for today."

"Yes ma'am. Is that okay?"

"Sure is fine with me. Come with me George. We'll make some cookies and get to some reading."

"Sure do appreciate this."

"Least I can do," Joe replied with a warm smile. "I run a few of these places. Was given a second chance by Chief Boden at Firehouse 51; so I give them back now. He's a good man. If that's where you're going to be working, it's the least I can do. That's a damn fine place to work. You made the right choice."

"Thanks." Kelly gave him a nod and then headed for the front door and outside; his bag now behind the counter with the man that had now kindly inserted himself into Kelly's life.

"Okay…here we go."

XXXXXXXX

"I know that look. What's going on?"

Matt looked up at his wife as she entered his office and offered her a smile. "Just trying to get a bit more career background on the new guy starting today and…and I can't find anything."

"Is that bad?" Gabriela Dawson-Casey inquired.

"No. If Boden did the checks and says this is our new guy then I'll welcome him with open arms."

"Want me to get Antonio to check things out…you know on the down low?"

Matt looked up with a small frown and paused before his gave her a small nod. "Just tell him to be discreet."

"Scouts honor," she grinned as a knock was heard on the door.

"Hey Cruz, what's up?"

"New guy is here."

"New Guy," Gabby teased.

"Kelly Severide," Matt corrected Joe Cruz who pursed his lips. "Thanks. Lead the way," Matt smiled as he pushed himself up and out of his chair and headed into the belly of Firehouse 51.

Kelly entered the large bay doors of Firehouse 51 and felt his anxiety speed up as a sea of unfamiliar, but friendly faces awaited.

XXXXXXXX

"Did you hear 51 filled their Lieutenant spot?" Trudy asked Erin that same morning as Erin entered Precinct 21 at an early hour.

"No. I'm behind on the Mouch or Antonio gossip."

"Randall is a terrible gossip. Always twists the facts," Trudy drawled as Erin lightly laughed. "Oh I just can't call him Mouch. Course there are a few times when…"

"I…don't want to know," Erin grinned as she took the case file and headed upstairs.

"You're in early," she commented to Mouse as she neared his desk. "What's…going on?" She asked as she recalled her frustrating night as she spent most of it staring at the strange message on her phone; the message the handsome Kelly had sent and what it might mean. "Did you find out if that guy Kelly has any connection to Johnson?"

"No…but…"

"But what?"

"But the person he was trying to reach, Mac…emailed back."

"And?"

"And it's just as odd as the first message sent," Mouse huffed as he showed her a brief printout.

'Kelly. I have news. You might not believe it but I need to tell you. Watch your back. Talk soon.'

"Okay…odd," she replied slowly as she took a picture with her phone and then urged him to destroy the printout. "Thanks. If he's not involved with Johnson then we need to back off this."

"But…"

"No Mouse."

"But it says watch your back. That's bad, right? This guy Kelly could be in real trouble. We help people in trouble right? And I tried to tell him about the IP trace but then you guys showed up and he got real nervous. We gotta warn him. Erin?"

"If they ask for help or are part of a case. He's not involved in any active investigation and hasn't asked for help. What can I say the next time I see him? I thought I would just snoop in your private affairs without you asking because even though you said it was just a joke I thought you were lying and think you're really in trouble? That'll really build trust."

"But you did that anyways right?" Mouse countered as Erin's lips pursed. "Right…sorry."

"Kelly, he has to take care of this without interference from us unless he wants help. We have our own killer to find."

"Okay."

"But…" she started slowly with a growing frown.

"But what?" Mouse pressed.

"Is there a way to hide that email or…I don't know make it harder to be traced or something?"

"Someone has replied so depending on how sophisticated they are on the other end, it could be too late, but let me try a few things. You know…without trying a few things," he winked as she gently smiled.

As Erin pulled away and slowly headed toward her desk, she couldn't get the words 'watch your back' out of her mind. What kind of trouble was Kelly in? The email message sounded too ominous to be just a joke or prank. But was it real? Was someone after him? What secret was he hiding? Did he commit a crime? Is that why he was nervous around her? Why he didn't ask her out? Seemed a bit more nervous than other men might have? But why? Gotta find out why!

"What'd you find on Johnson?"

"Miller paid an informant to do a double-cross on Johnson. Johnson found out but before he could take out the informant, the informant skipped town. Mouse found the pictures that were sent as blackmail on the library computer."

"Did he trace their origin?" Voight asked as Jay and Antonio approached.

"Well he found two addresses," Erin said as she handed her boss the list. "And…a name in Vice."

"Since it'll be seen as a conflict for Jay to call in a favor at Vice…" Voight stated as Jay looked at them in amusement; the comment referring to his wife Hailey who had moved from their department in Intelligence into Vice.

"I'll take it," Adam Ruzek piped up.

"Yeah because that'll be just as objective," Kevin Atwater snatched the piece of paper from his grasp as Adam rolled his eyes. "If it's a conflict for Jay, it'll be one for you two. Damn…your two wives as partners in Vice, that has conflict written all over it."

"Vice never knew what him em," Voight grinned as he nodded to Antonio. "Go with him. No gossip that way."

"Oh yeah…that'll keep the talk down," Antonio rolled his eyes as he snatched the paper from Atwater and turned to leave.

"The four of us will take the other two addresses."

"You two coming to Molly's tonight?"

"What's going on?"

"51 is welcoming their new guy," Adam read the text from his wife.

"So much for stemming the gossip," Erin snickered as her and Jay headed toward the stairs to go out.

"You going tonight?"

"Maybe," she answered with a small shrug. "You?"

"I'll check with my social director," he chuckled.

I'd much rather see Kelly again than go to Molly's, her mind inwardly huffed. Find out his real story.

XXXXXXXX

Kelly stood in the middle of his small office and felt an uneasy feeling starting to cover him. He wanted so much to put up a picture of himself, George and Shay but wasn't sure that he would be here long enough to really make the place his own.

"So…"

Kelly turned back to look at Matt Casey in the doorway and offered him a friendly smile. "Great house you have here."

"Make yourself at home. Space isn't much…"

"Better than the broom closet I had back ho…" Kelly started and then stopped as his brow tightly furrowed. "So how long you been here?"

"You know, if you wanna talk about…back home…it's okay," Matt tried to allay his concerns.

"Told myself I wouldn't do that. This is a fresh start and I need to just make this place my own," Kelly answered with a tight lipped smile and nod. "New home."

"Fair enough," Matt agreed.

A few seconds later the overhead paging system went off, calling them all to duty.

"Now's a good time to start," Matt smiled as he slapped Kelly on the back before he turned and darted into the hallway to join the rest of his team.

"Let's do it!"

XXXXXXXX

As much as he didn't want to be away longer from his son, Kelly knew if he turned down his welcome to 51 from his house, that he might rouse suspicion and he didn't want that. Instead he told Matt that he had a line on an apartment and had to meet the landlord but he could swing by Molly's for a few hours. With that he called the kind woman his son was with to explain. Much to his delight, she was okay with George having dinner with them and would be safe until they were reunited.

"Ready?" Matt asked as he appeared in Kelly's doorway with his wife at his side.

"Ready," Kelly replied with a firm nod.

"You know Mouch's wife, helps out with the Renters association," Gabriela started as the three of them slowly headed toward the entrance of Firehouse 51. "She might have a few good leads on some affordable places."

"Okay that would be great thanks. Does she work?"

"Police Sargent over at 21," Matt replied casually as the knot in Kelly's stomach tightened a bit.

"Married to a cop wow. That's something."

"Trudy is awesome. You'll love her. She's momma to all of us," Gabriela smiled as they exited the house and entered the early evening night air.

"Okay…sure."

They quickly arrived at Molly's and Kelly met a few from Precinct 21 and a few from Chicago Med; all happy and friendly and very welcoming. He could see a definite family comradery between the three institutions that while separate professions, all came together to form one cohesive unit to save lives and keep the area they lived in as safe as possible. He could only admire it.

"So Gabby tells me you want to meet my wife so she can…you know introduce you to her friends in low places," Mouch laughed as Kelly just smirked.

"Yeah, is she here?"

"She's…right over there. Helping behind the back of the bar."

Just as Kelly turned his world started to slow, especially when he heard Mouch offer his wife's name. "Trudy."

That's her! The woman from the other night…at the shelter. Damn I better have a good excuse. … or just leave.

"Right….well she's busy and I'll…hey my phone is buzzing so I'll catch up in a bit," Kelly lied as he tried to make his way toward the front door. Just as he was about to clear the space, another familiar face entered – Jay and his wife Hailey.

That guy? He was with Erin…who is he? He noticed the rings on each of their fingers so surmised correctly that he wasn't with Erin but who…Partner! Of course. Damn now he's gonna tell her for sure! Leave now! His brain warned as he, didn't make eye contact with Jay but headed for the front door. So busted…if he works at 21, and they are tight with this crew, you'll run into him sooner rather than later.

Hopefully later!

But just as he cleared the doorway, his world came to a crashing halt. Destiny was about to bring two people together; getting them ready for the long journey ahead.

There she was, right in front of him. His jaw slightly parted as his heart rate started to rise. "Erin…" was all he could say in a quiet tone.

Her eyes instantly sparked as her cheeks flushed. "Hey…Kelly…" she managed through rapidly beating thumps inside her chest. "Are you here for…" she stopped just as Matt appeared behind Kelly.

"Hey Erin! Welcome to the party, have you met our new Squad Lieutenant? Kelly Severide?"


A/N: eeks! well now our couple can't get away from each other so now the sparks and the tension is about to fly! How will their first real encounter play out? Would love to know your thoughts on this update and what might be in store for our couple? Thanks!