Thank you all for the reviews. I hope you all like this story so far and will continue to read it. This chapter is based on the sneak peek clip from the upcoming Chicago Fire, Season 8 episode. I love writing fanfics and I'm loving the slow burn of Brett and Casey. Please leave any reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

CHAPTER 2

Mr. Larson was in the process of going through his wife's funeral alone with just him and the pastor when Brett and Casey showed up.

"What are you doing here?" Mr. Larson asked, shocked to see Brett and Casey.

"Chicago stands with each other and we are here for you. All of us, that is." Brett said as she looked at the door where she and Casey had just came from.

Mr. Larson looked over and saw all of Firehouse 51 and other Chicago citizens coming in to support him.

"We're all here for you." Casey reassured.

Mr. Larson started to tear up. This meant so much to him. The service began and after the entire funeral service was over, Casey and Brett followed Mr. Larson home. Brett and Casey had brought Dusty to Mr. Larson after their shift ended and so when they arrived, Dusty greeted them.

"Looks like ol Dusty has taken up with you two." Mr. Larson chuckled.

"He's the sweetest little guy." Brett said as she held Dusty in her arms.

"I have a very important favor to ask of you both." Mr. Larson said.

"What is it?" Casey asked.

"If something ever happens to me, will you both look after Dusty for me?" Mr. Larson asked.

Brett and Casey looked at each other and then back at Mr. Larson.

"Absolutely." Casey said without hesitation.

"Do you need anything before we go?" Brett asked.

"Uh, no. I'm ok as long as I have Dusty." Mr. Larson said.

"If you need anything, just give us a call." Casey said.

With that, they left.

"Any plans for your day off?" Casey casually asked.

"Not really. I'll probably go out to Molly's tonight." Brett said.

"Same here. Well, I guess I'll see you later." Casey said.

They headed their separate ways. Brett had a few errands to run and Casey had to go finish a construction job that he had. It was about 5:00 p.m. and Brett was reorganizing her bedroom when she received a phone call. It was the adoption intermediary that has been trying to contact Brett. She ignored the call. She just didn't want to deal with it. She wasn't sure why, but her birth mother was trying to contact her. The intermediary left a voicemail for Brett to get back to him. She decided not to focus on that and just have fun tonight. After all, she is single and she deserves a night on the town before she lets her birth mother make contact with her.

"Hey Brett, you home?" Cruz called out.

Brett came out of her room.

"Hey, what's up?" Brett asked.

"Chloe wants to know if you could go dress shopping with her this weekend for the wedding." Cruz said.

"Oh, yeah, I'll go. Just have her text me the details." Brett smiled.

"Great. See ya later." Cruz said as he left the apartment.

Brett chuckled and walked back into her room. She changed clothes and did her hair. She put a little makeup on and after getting ready, she headed out to Molly's where everyone from Firehouse 51 was hanging out.

"Hey Brett, over here!" Foster called out.

"Hey, where's Stella?" Brett asked.

"She's running late. Oh, this is Lisa. Lisa, this is Sylvie Brett, my partner on Ambo." Foster said.

"Hi. Nice to meet you." Lisa said.

"Nice to meet you too." Brett smiled.

Brett looked around the bar and caught Casey sitting at the bar talking to Severide and Herrmann.

"I'm gonna go get a drink from the bar. Do you guys want anything?" Brett asked.

"I'm good." Lisa said.

"Same." Foster replied.

Brett smiled and headed to the bar.

"Hey, Brett." Herrmann said as Brett arrived at the bar to order a drink.

Matt smiled to himself.

"Hey Herrmann. Can I get my usual?" Brett asked.

"You got it." Herrmann said as he walked over to the cooler and pulled out a cold beer bottle for Brett.

"Thanks." Brett smiled as Herrmann handed the bottle to her.

"Hey Brett, how's everything going?" Casey casually asked.

She hesitated for a minute before answering.

"Remember what I told you when we were looking for Dusty?" Brett asked.

"Yeah." Casey replied.

"It happened again. The intermediary or whatever you wanna call him, contacted me again today." Brett said.

"Really? What did he say?" Casey asked.

"I don't know. He left a voicemail for me. I couldn't answer the phone." Brett said.

"Wanna talk about it?" Casey asked.

"Yeah, but let me go tell Foster I'll be over at her table after." Brett said.

"Meet me outside." Casey said.

Casey got up and headed outside while Brett walked over to Foster and Lisa.

"Hey, I'll be back." Brett said.

"Everything ok?" Foster asked.

"Yeah. Casey needs to talk to me about Mr. Larson. He called." Brett lied.

"Alright." Foster said.

Brett placed her beer on the table and then headed outside to talk to Casey.

"If Foster asks about Mr. Larson, just go along with it." Brett laughed.

"Ok." Casey chuckled.

"So, I have this voicemail from the adoption mediator/intermediary, whatever you wanna call this guy. I haven't brought myself to listen to it, and honestly,
I don't think I want too. Does that make me a bad person?" Brett questioned.

"Of course, not. It makes you human." Casey said.

"I'm not ready to hear the message." Brett said.

"So, what are you going to do?" Casey asked.

"I don't know. There's so many questions I have. Right now, I don't know what to do." Brett said.

"So, if you don't answer when the adoption intermediary contacts you, what happens?" Casey questioned.

"I'm not sure. Worse case scenario, my birth mother comes to find me on her own." Brett said.

"If you need anything, you know I'm here for you." Casey said with a smile.

"I know. Thank you." Brett replied.

They gave each other a hug and then pulled away. They chuckled and headed back inside.

"Hey, is Stella still not here?" Brett asked.

"She called and said that she couldn't make it." Foster said.

"Oh." Brett replied.

Foster gave Brett a look that Brett knew all too well. Brett took the hint and smiled.

"Thank you." Foster mouthed.

"You're welcome." Brett mouthed back.

Brett walked over to the bar and sat down in one of the empty chairs at the bar. Casey noticed but didn't say anything as Brett was looking at her phone. Another phone call came in on her phone and Casey could tell by the expression on her face, that it was the adoption intermediary trying to reach her. He got up and walked over to her.

"Hey, did you get another call?" Casey asked.

"Yeah." Brett sighed.

"Maybe you should answer it next time." Casey suggested.

"Maybe...or maybe I change my number and block the number." Brett contemplated.

"Now that is a possibility." Casey said.

They chatted for a bit before Brett left to go home. The next day while at work, Brett was cleaning the ambulance when a man showed up.

"Can I help you?" Brett asked the man.

"I'm looking for Sylvie Brett." the man said.

"I'm Sylvie Brett." Brett replied.

"I'm the intermediary from the adoption agency. When you didn't respond to our phone calls, we assumed that we had the wrong number." the intermediary said.

"Oh. I'm sorry. We get calls all the time, sometimes five or six times a day and it makes it hard to answer the phone." Brett said.

"That's ok. Your birth mom is still seeking contact and wanted me to give you this. It's up to you as to what you do with this." the intermediary said as he handed Brett a letter and then left.

Brett stood there for a minute, taking in what had just happened. She was holding a letter with her name on it. She contemplated on whether or not she should open it and read it. She decided to put it off until later. She folded it up and stuck it in her pocket and went inside. She started to walk into the common room but she didn't see Casey. Casey was really the only one who knew what was currently going on with her birth mother and she really needed her friend now. After checking to see if Casey was in his office, she headed to the bunk room and sat on the bed. Casey was in Boden's office discussing one of the calls that they had been called out on earlier. He came out of Boden's office and saw Brett in the bunk room. He walked over to her and startled her.

"Woah, I didn't mean to scare ya." Casey joked.

"Oh, it's ok." Brett said.

Casey could tell something was going on.

"I know that look. What's wrong?" Casey asked.

Brett was surprised to know that Casey noticed when something was wrong with her.

"I got this from the intermediary today. He actually came by 51 when I was cleaning Ambo. He said my birth mother wanted me to have this." Brett said as she handed the letter to Casey.

"Do you want me to open it and read it?" Casey asked.

Brett contemplated for a few minutes.

"I don't know. I'm honestly scared." Brett said.

"What are you scared of?" Casey asked.

"I don't know. I'm scared that it might be a letter saying that my birth mother needs some sort of liver or kidney transplant and for me to get tested. I'm scared that it might tell me that she's dying. I'm scared that it will turn out that she wants to get to know me and I'm just not ready for that." Brett said as she paced the room.

Casey looked at her and slightly chuckled.

"Come here." Casey chuckled.

Brett walked over to Casey and looked at him. She knew what he was going to say but didn't say anything. Casey gave her a hug.

"I'm not going anywhere. If your mom does want to make contact with you by meeting you, I will go with you. Alright?" Casey said.

Brett looked at him.

"Really?" Brett questioned.

"Yes, really. I won't let you meet her by yourself. I'll be there for you the whole time and if at any time you feel uncomfortable, we can leave, but you don't really know for sure if she wants a meeting or not unless you read what's in this envelope." Casey said.

Brett hated when Casey was right. She hadn't even opened the envelope to see what was inside. She was freaking out over nothing but what if she was freaking out because she was right? It was something that she just wasn't ready for. She feels as if her birth mother has invaded her personal space without Brett's permission. At this point, Brett had a lot to think about and wasn't sure what to do. The only thing she knew was that Casey knew what was going on and that she had a friend to confide in.