While I thought my next story would be Secrets and Lies, I'm still not happy with where it is just yet. I've been binge-watching Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med, and the writing muses gave me some inspiration for this story. If you watch those shows, I've played several of the storylines and characters and reimagined some. In my usual style, I've made the majority of the characters people of color. Hope you enjoy this one. Special thanks to Lex In the City for being my Beta on this one!


"Chica!" Christina squeals as she sees her best friend walking up to the baggage claim in O'Hare.

"Chica" Tris parrots as she pulls Christina into a hug. "This is going to be the best week! I can't believe it's been almost two years since I've seen you"

"I know, Thanks for coming to get me since Caleb got pulled in on a case" Tris grinned as she pulled her bag up higher over her shoulder while they waited for her suitcase at the baggage claim carousel.

Tris and Christina had been best friends since they met on the first day of school for Tris in Atlanta. When Tris was 12 her parents divorced and she and her brother Caleb moved with their mother Natalie to Georgia. They had been inseparable since that first day in 6th grade.

Christina chose to go to college in Chicago. She had begged Tris for years to move to Chicago especially since Caleb had moved back as well but Tris wanted to stay close to her mother.

"Do I want to know how much you have planned for us this week?" Tris teases as they hop into Christina's car.

Tris had taken a week of leave to spend some time with Christina and Caleb. Things had been crazy for the two friends and they hadn't seen each other in a year and a half even though they talked or Facetimed a few times a week.

"We are going to have so much fun, there's this new upscale lounge Onyx, I've been dying to go to where the more established and professional Black folks in Chicago are going, you know I can't stand being with too many young folks and there's a new Caribbean restaurant on Wacker I want to take you to…" Christina rattles off as she navigates her car through the parking garage.

"I can't wait, You know I need to hit up Harold's this week too" Tris adds, as she shakes her head at the long list of places Christina wanted to go.

"Oh, yes Harold's Chicken is added to the list! I know you and Caleb will want some time together too even though I know he's still tied up on this case. Oh and there's this new bar Dauntless the Firehouse hangs out, maybe we can make it there one night. And I'm sure you'll want to chill out a bit too"

"Of course, It will be nice to sleep in and do nothing for a few days" Tris comments. Christina was such a social butterfly, she had been going through so much, Tris knew she needed to get out and have some fun this week too.

"And you could spend some time with your Dad while you're here too..." Christina pushes as she navigates on the road.

Tris scoffs. "That would be a no"

"I thought you two were sort of speaking again…"

"If you count a two-minute call on my birthday and again on Christmas. I refuse to act like he's a model father"

She hated talking about her father. Andrew Prior cheated on his wife, which is what lead to the divorce. Andrew and his mistress Jeanine married and Tris and Caleb had a younger brother Matthew.

Christina sighs and nods her head, her own father was never around so she got it but she wanted Tris and her father to work on their relationship. She knew what it was like to have no parents.

"How are you settling in with the Chicago Fire Department?" Tris asks, wanting to change the subject.

Christina smiles. In the year she had been working at Firehouse 51 as a paramedic, she had made some amazing friends and felt great about the lives she was saving every day. She had been hesitant at first but after Tris pushed her she gave in and it had turned out to be one of the best decisions she had ever made.

"It's amazing, They are a really tight house, good people on 2nd Shift and no one looks down on me because of my situation even though I haven't broadcasted it to many people…"

"That's awesome Chris, I knew this would be a good move for you" Christina had gone through a tough couple of years. Tris was so happy she was happy and getting a firming footing. She had really been worried about her the past couple of years.

"You know I heard there might be an opening coming up soon." Christina sing songs with a smile. "One of the engineers on Truck 81 is talking about retiring in the next year…. And they are so much more progressive here, Marlene is on Truck 81 and she's tough like you, I can't wait for you to meet her…And I know Caleb misses you just as much as I do…"

Tris chuckles at Christina's not-so-subtle hints. Tris was one of the few female firefighters in her district in Atlanta. She had fought her way through the ranks but she had been restless, feeling like she was fighting a losing battle for any chance at improving her rank for advancement. There were 98 Firehouses in Chicago compared to 34 in Atlanta. She had been complaining that she needed a change of scenery.

"Ehhhhh, I don't know" Did she really want to move back to Chicago? The brutal winters would be a challenge but if she wanted to advance, possibly become an officer on a truck, there would for sure be more opportunities in a larger city.

"Just think about it" Christina edges as Tris playfully rolls her eyes and turns to look out the window.


"Te extrañé mucho (I missed you a lot)," Caleb says with a nudge to Tris's shoulder. Tris grins as she loops her arm through Caleb's as they walk down North Michigan Ave. Caleb was only a year older than her. They were so close most people thought they were twins, especially since they acted like it.

"Yeah, I missed you too. I haven't taken any time off in so long, but you haven't been to visit me and Mami either" Tris scolds.

"I know, I know…He estado muy ocupado" Caleb chuckles.

The gang murders in Chicago always ramped up in the summer months, he was already working three cases. He had been fast-tracked in the Chicago Police Department, earning a spot in the Intelligence Department. He was so close to his mother and sister, it had killed him that he hadn't been able to visit as often the past year.

"You going to see Papi while you in town?" Caleb asks quickly, hoping to just get it out on the table.

"Ugh, when was the last time you saw him?" Tris asks as she shakes her head.

"Probably six months ago, I took Matthew a birthday present"

"Damn, I missed that, the kid doesn't really know me anyway" Tris shrugs.

Tris and Tobias had a half-sibling Matthew who was 10 years old now. Tris had only seen him a handful of times, but Caleb made a little more of an effort since he was in Chicago.

"You should try and stop by, he's getting big, he's a really smart kid, it's not his fault who his parents are and he does ask about you. I think he secretly wants to be a firefighter"

"That's will be pure justice!" Tris crows with a huge grin.

Andrew Prior made it very clear he wasn't happy with Caleb or Tris and their career choices. He had nudged them into science and math camps as kids, wanting them to go into research and academics like him. Tris still had a lot of feelings about her parents' divorce and her father moving on with his new family.

When they reach their destination, one of the diners frequented by the CPD Caleb greets the manager and a few other cops on duty as they grab a table. Tris decides to probe her brother, she was done talking about their father for the time being.

"So how are things with this new lady of yours?"

"Ehhh, that went south, Don't think she knew what she signed up for with all my crazy hours as a detective" Caleb admits. "How are Mami and Ramon?"

Natalie had remarried just the year before. Caleb and Tris finally felt like she was living the life she deserved. 5 years ago she started her own cleaning business that was flourishing. While on a job she met a businessman in the hotel industry, Ramon Valdez who was new to the Atlanta area. He had been taken with Natalie when she came by to give him a quote and ended up sending her roses every day until she caved in and went on a date with him.

Caleb and Tris had been wary of him but he soon won them over showing them he was a genuine guy.

"Apparently thinking about moving to the Dominican Republic and soon like in the next year, Roman's company wants to open a new hotel and they think it makes sense to just go since they've been wanting to move anyway " Tris reveals.

"What!" Caleb coughs. He talked to his mother every Sunday, and this was the first he'd heard of it.

"Don't say anything, she said she wanted to tell you herself, she'll probably tell you Sunday" Tris and her mother had dinner or lunch once a week and normally she and her son spoke every Sunday.

"I guess I shouldn't be shocked. Mami has always wanted to go home and she had Ramon have been spending all their holidays there. She doesn't have to be in Atlanta to keep the cleaning business going with the managers and staff she has now and Aunt Edith gone" Caleb reasons after the shock wears off.

Natalie had been 18 when she met Andrew Prior when he came to the Dominican Republic on a mission trip. They wrote letters until Andrew was able to bring her to the U.S. on a K12 visa.

Andrew was now the head of a research project for a private company that did medical research. He was also on faculty at Northwestern, which was where he met Jeanine, who was head of the Psychology program. While they had a mutual attraction when their affair first started - after working on a drug that Jeanine was running a research study for - Andrew quickly decided that having Jeanine on his side elevated him from just a research assistant, on a struggling salary with a wife who was a stay-at-home mother and two kids. He wanted to be respected, he was tired of the medical research and academic community looking down on him, especially at a predominantly white college.

Tris would never forget that day her father came home and said he was leaving her. Natalie cried and screamed. Caleb sat in the corner crying, but Tris she walked right up to her father, throwing her hand into fits swinging at him with all her might as she screamed she hated him.

Andrew started his new life with Jeanie, seemingly changing overnight. He became this sellout version of his former self. When he was promoted to head of the research division, he started pressing Tris and Caleb that they needed to distance themselves from the life they lived with Natalie. Caleb didn't despise him as much as his sister but used him as a means to an end.

When Natalie couldn't find enough work and with the infrequent child support payments from Andrew, she was faced with moving back to the Dominican Republic to get help from her cousins until Andrew's great Aunt Edith stepped in. She was appalled by her nephew's behavior with his family. She had no children of her own and she adored Natalie, Tris, and Caleb and would have done anything for them.

After an offer from Aunt Edith when it got tougher for Natalie to make ends meet, she made the decision to move Caleb and Tris to Atlanta. The cost of living was much cheaper, she was able to get a job as a hotel housekeeper and make extra cleaning houses. It also afforded Tris and Caleb the ability to finish school in the United States. Natalie didn't have the degrees Andrew had, but she wanted more for her children and wanted them to have all the opportunities living in the States had to offer.

Things were tight but she stretched what little money she had and Aunt Edith was there to help out watching Tris and Caleb when Natalie worked late, making dinner, helping with laundry, anything Natalie needed. They lived with Edith for the first two years after the move to Atlanta. She was the closest thing Caleb and Tris had to a grandparent with both Natalie and Andrew's parents dead. She passed away two years ago and it had been hard for Caleb, Tris, and Natalie.

Moving to Georgia and living with Edith helped Tris and Caleb connect to their African American heritage as much as they had been connected to their Dominican heritage even though they weren't close with Andrew after the divorce. For both of the Prior kids, it was as if they had the best of both worlds. Aunt Edith made sure they knew all about their African American Roots, teaching Tris and Caleb both how to cook traditional southern foods, the history of their family as enslaved people in Georgia. They only spoke Spanish at home with Natalie and even taught Aunt Edith the basics while Natalie taught them to cook all their favorite Dominican dishes.

"You going to stay in Atlanta all alone now?" Caleb asks. His sister was amazing and she was more than capable of taking care of herself, but he worried about her being alone now.

Tris laughs as she runs her fingers over the condensation of her water glass.

"Well, Chris did tell me her firehouse might have an opening in the next year…"

"See, This is perfect! I can't wait for us to be able to go to Bulls games, Maybe we could get season tickets" Caleb grins as the waitress drops off their food. He and his sister were huge basketball fans and he missed going to Hawks games with her in Atlanta.

"Aye, aun no dije que si (Hey, I didn't say yes)" Tris laughs as she tosses her napkin across the table as Caleb dodges it playfully.

She had to admit the thought of moving back to Chicago intrigued her.


"I can't believe this, I put in for leave two months ago when you bought your plane ticket, how the hell do I get pulled in for this shift at the last minute because someone on second shift has to call out because they get injured on a call" Christina grumbles as pours herself a cup of coffee.

"It happens, don't worry about it. I'm fine, it's just one shift and I still have 3 days here. And I'll hang out with Caleb or go shopping" Tris shrugs as she pops a bagel in the toaster.

"Or maybe you could go see your old man…" Christina says as she heads to her bedroom not giving Tris an opportunity to respond.

Tris looks down at her cup of coffee. If she was really going to consider moving back to Chicago, she wouldn't be able to avoid her father forever.


Tobias leans back in his chair in his quarters. He had a mountain of paperwork to do from the calls they responded to last shift. As a Lieutenant for the Chicago Fire Department, he was in charge of the Rescue Squad of Firehouse 51. Out of the 98 Firehouses in the City of Chicago, He was responsible for 3 other firefighters on his truck. They were the crazy bunch that not only rescued people from fires but did heavy rescue. Tobias did everything from repelling off buildings to scuba diving for search and rescue in Lake Michigan.

He loved being a firefighter, even though the pressure to live up to his father's legacy was still ever-present. Marcus Eaton had been a respected member of the Chicago Fire Department for 30 years, working on Rescue Squad 4 for many years serving as Battalion Chief for Firehouse 51, and then being promoted to Captain at the Office of Fire Investigation.

While Marcus was a model firefighter, he wasn't a model family man. Even though he had been married to his wife Evelyn for over 35 years, their relationship was toxic. There was always drama with Marcus having multiple affairs. He and Evelyn actually separated for about two years with Marcus moving out to live with one of his mistresses while Tobias was in high school. He eventually came home, and he and Evelyn started their up and down relationship all over again. Things got better for Tobias when he moved out into his own apartment after completing the fire academy but there was always still that pressure for his parents' approval.

Tobias struggled with making a name for himself that wasn't tied to his father's legacy but he loved firefighting and couldn't see himself doing anything else. He had become the youngest firefighter to make Lieutenant at age 24, taking over Squad 3 at Firehouse 51 6 years ago. His love life though was more non-committal, long term relationships weren't his thing. He had been in love once…

A knock on the door draws him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, Eaton, got time for a break" Zeke grins as he pokes his head in holding up two cigars.

Tobias looks at the stack of paper but decides the reports can wait as he hops up with a grin. When things were quiet the two of them took two lawn chairs and climbed up on the roof or sat on the apron of the firehouse to smoke cigars and talk about what was bothering them.

Zeke Pedread was the Lieutenant on Truck 81. He and Zeke met on the first day of the Chicago Fire Department Academy and clicked immediately. Zeke was transferred to Truck 81 five years ago and passed his Lieutenant exam to command Truck 81 the past three years, and over that time they had formed a tight group with everyone in the house. Tobias always knew Zeke had his back and they supported each other through everything both on shift and off.

When they got to Firehouse 51, both men were shocked to learn that their fathers had served together along with their new chief Max Boden on Rescue Squad 4. Reggie Pedrad died in a fire when Zeke was 10 and his brother Uriah was 8. It made him feel closer to his father, working under Max, hearing him tell stories about them fighting fires together. It seemed like fate, that he and Tobias worked together now, and it made the two friends closer knowing their fathers had served together.

Ten minutes later, the two of them are sitting in their folding chairs, looking out at the neighborhood surrounding the firehouse. One thing Tobias and Zeke both loved about Firehouse 51 was they were a real part of the community. People trusted them more than the police and it showed.

"You good after that call?" Zeke asks after taking a puff of his cigar.

Squad 3 and Truck 81 had responded to a bad traffic accident that morning involving several cars and they weren't able to save two of the victims. It happened, they couldn't save everyone but sometimes the things they saw weighed on them more heavily than others.

"Yeah, I feel bad for that family, losing the father and grandmother in one accident. I can't imagine how they are feeling" Tobias says looking out at the city lights.

It was a clear night so the Chicago skyline was lit up against the night sky. Even though it was almost 12 am but there were still 8 hours left in their 24-hour shift, plenty could happen.

"Amin started a boot to pass around for the family,"

Tobias nods as he takes a pull from his cigar and the blowing out the cloud of smoke.

That was something Amin would do before go fund me accounts were a thing, firefighters would pass an empty fire boot to raise money for a given cause, especially if a firefighter was injured or there was a devastating loss for a family on a call.

Amar Amin was the officer on Engine 51 for Firehouse 51. The engine primarily was used to transport water compared to Truck 81 which carried more equipment. Amar had been an instructor when Zeke and Tobias both came through the fire academy. He was a seasoned firefighter, on the job for 20 years. He had been a great mentor to both Zeke and Tobias over the years always sharing what he knew and lending a listening ear as both of them grew in their leadership positions.

"How's my God Son? I haven't seen him this week" Tobias asks.

"Whew, the terrible two's might be the death of us, that kid is stubborn." Zeke chuckles thinking about his son. He was full of mischief already.

Zeke and his ex-girlfriend Tori were working through co-parenting their son Dallas on top of owning a bar called Dauntless that wasn't far from 51. He was enjoying fatherhood, but he praised his mother for keeping up with two boys on her own.

"You and Tori still good?"

It had been a bit of a rough few years for both of them, with sinking all their savings into a bar that was run down and the owner was looking to sell. Zeke and Tori reached out to her brother George who worked in IT in California to invest with them.

Six months into the renovations, Tori was pregnant which added so much stress on the two of them that he and Tori decided to end their relationship a few months after Dallas was born. All of their friends rallied around them to help pitch in with babysitting or renovations or whatever they needed. Dauntless was doing well now, and a place where firefighters, police officers, and staff from the hospital all hung out now.

"Yeah, we're just trying to focus on Dallas"

"Well I can't lie, I've been missing my wingman" Tobias teases. He knew Zeke still loved Tori, and he thought they were really good together. He hoped one day they could work things out.

"How about tomorrow night? My mom is going to have Dallas. We have a new bartender, so I think I could sneak out early if we aren't busy"

"Sounds like a plan" Tobias grins, things were always busy at 51 but everyone felt like the last two shifts had been busier than normal. It would be nice for him and Zeke to let off some steam.

"You ever going to try and settle down man?" Zeke probes.

Tobias chuckles. "Maybe if I meet the right one but that doesn't seem like that will ever happen"

"Maybe you haven't met the right one because you need to change it up, step outside your comfort zone, try something different. All those chicks you get with are the same" Zeke offers.

He knew his best friend, knew what he liked, but he knew that he was never going to find someone to settle down with if he didn't try anything but shallow and superficial hookups.

Tobias thinks about it and he knew Zeke was on to something. He for sure had a type. Blonde, no real curves, someone who he could smile at and get his way. The two years Zeke and Tobias were roommates before Zeke and Tori moved in together, Zeke picked up on all of his best friend's habits.

Just as Tobias is about to respond the alarm goes off signaling a call and the voice from the command center comes over the loudspeaker. Tobias and Zeke stand up to see which team would need to respond.

Ambulance 61, Engine 51 Truck 81, Squad 3, Warehouse Fire 5878 Randolph St.

"Let's get it" Zeke grins.


Let me know what you think! See you next week with a new chapter!