"I can't believe she didn't know she was pregnant. Like, at all", Sylvie said on their way back to Firehouse 51.

"Nah, me neither. But she was really scared though, poor thing. Good thing both are fine." Alicia paused. "But… to be honest, this is the fourth delivery I'm doing at this job and there is no way in hell I'll ever give birth to a child."

Sylvie sighed. "Hm, yeah I get it. But it's also kind of a miracle, isn't it."

"Yeah", Alicia had to admit. She wanted to change the topic to avoid the usual "do you want to have kids"-question, and "any fun plans for the weekend?" was the first and unoriginal thought that came out of her mouth.

"Good that you ask because I was gonna ask you if you wanna come along. I was thinking about a girl's night with Gabby, Kim, Erin and maybe April, from the hospital. But I'm not sure yet where to go. So, if you have any idea…"

Alicia chuckled. "Well, I wanted to check out one club I used to go to when I was eighteen. But I don't know if you guys like the music." She laughed because she knew what kind of music Sylvie liked, and it wasn't her taste. At all.

"Oh no, if you mean your screaming…"

"Duh."

"Okay, I'll find something", Sylvie said with a worried look on her face, just to give her a smile. "So, you're in? No date plans for the weekend? Didn't Gabby give you Jay's number?" She tried a little too hard to sound casual.

"Yes, I'm in. No, no date plans. And yes, she did give me his number." And she hadn't called him. Still contemplating.

"I just…", she started, struggling to find the right words. But she's been working with Sylvie for a few days now, and she already considered her a friend. They just had a platonic connection immediately. "I'm just a bit scared, you know, of having feelings for someone again. The last time I dated someone, a girl, I thought it was serious and at first, we just saw each other for sex, but I really liked her, and wanted to see her more often and meet my friends, you know? But she would just push me away and weeks later I found out she had a boyfriend. And that she just wanted to have fun and experiment. And before that woman, I was dating a guy and he was just so… moody. One day he was all nice and attentive, and two days later he was on something, I never knew what, and suddenly he'd snap at every little thing and tell me he doesn't need me and what not. I don't know I'm just wondering if I'm not better off alone." Just as she finished, Sylvie drove the ambulance into the driveway of the firehouse.

"Oh, dear, that sucks!" Sylvie said and put her hand on Alicia's as soon as she stopped the vehicle. "I'm so sorry. I totally get that you're worried. It's just that not everyone is bad, you know. And having those bad experiences is enough to be careful, but isolation is not the same, okay?"

Alicia sighed heavily. "You're right. Yeah, it's true."

"Plus, we know the guy a little, so."

Alicia gave her a smile and squeezed her hand. "Thanks, Sylvie."

"Always."

Alicia got her bag out of the ambulance to check what needs to be replaced or refilled as they had to use a lot of the medicine for the labour, as Hermann came towards her. "Hey, Barnes, I got visitors for you", he said, pointing at a woman and a man behind him, just coming out of the building, smiling at her.

"Oh, hey! How nice that you already visit me!" Alicia jumped out the vehicle and went to hug them.

"I couldn't resist seeing you at work, honey", the women said.

"Yeah, and I'm here because she dragged me along", the man said with a smile, raising his hands in defence, when Alicia hissed "shut the fuck up!". When Alicia got pulled out of a foster family and adopted by the Barnes', she was fifteen and he was thirteen, but it sure didn't stop them from bantering like 'real' siblings from time to time.

"Let me show you guys around!", she said and went back to the Ambulance. "I wanna introduce you to my new partner. Sylvie Brett, those are my mom Erica and my brother Michael."

"Nice to meet you." Sylvie gave them a bright smile and Alicia couldn't help herself but be so damn glad she had an actual ray of sunshine as her current work partner. Who also was great at listening and gave her better advice than "just do it".

She showed her adoptive mother and brother the whole fire department and offered them some coffee to sit down with her.

"It's so nice to have you back in Chicago", her adoptive mother started, taking her hand across the table. Alicia felt a rush of warmth in her stomach. This was the second time this day someone held her hand and it was kinda overwhelming. "Thanks. I'm actually so glad I'm back. Sometimes you gotta leave to see what you had, right?"

It was true. She came back to Chicago with mixed feelings. There were some ghosts here, that were chasing her out of the city into a unknown part of the world, that she was scared to come back to. But seeing her family again and having a new job opportunity also gave her a sense of safety, that she definitely needed. And right now, she was feeling the safety.

In that moment, she made the decision to ask Jay Halstead out on a date.

Which why she later took her phone and went outside to make a call. It didn't go through, as if his phone was turned off. Maybe he was busy with his job? She didn't have much more time to think about it, as the alarm called them to a place farther away. She stuffed her phone into her pockets and went to the ambulance. She was riding shotgun again, as she agreed with Brett she would for the first couple shifts to get used to the roads and names again. There was a huge difference between knowing a few places as a teen and driving to a specific place as soon as possible.

"I tried to call Jay", she admitted on their way.

"And?"

"I don't know, maybe his phone's off? He didn't pick up."

"You could leave a message", Sylvie suggested.

Alicia shook her head. "I'm one of those people who overthink and rewrite a message a couple hundred times just to send the cringiest one in the e-"

She got interrupted by a dispatcher. "Ambulance 61, multiple injured people, two injured officers, CPD is on-site."

"Huh". Alicia was wondering which familiar face of the CPD she would see on-site. However, she still was shocked as she got to look at a roughed-up Erin Lindsay and an injured Jay Halstead. "The fuck happened to you guys", she couldn't stop herself from saying and earned a chuckle from both of them. "Nice seeing you too, Barnes", Jay said. He was covered in bruises and blood. Brett took Lindsay aside and checker her, so Alicia got to take care of Jay. She opened the back of the ambulance and told him to sit down.

"Guess that's why you didn't answer my call", she mumbled, while putting on her gloves. "Where does it hurt?"

"You called me?" Jay frowned when she carefully touched the wound on his forehead. "Also, not to complain, but it hurts… everywhere. A little."

She had already seen this when she looked him in the eyes. That's always one of the first things she did when arriving at a scene – taking a good look at someone's eyes. After attending dozens of injured people, she could tell if someone was in pain. Both light and unbearable, both physical and mental pain. She could see both in his eyes, no matter the faint smile when he asked her about the phone call.

"Let's talk about it later, it wasn't anything important." She put some disinfectant on the wounds she saw were not that deep. She ordered him to take off his shirt and inspect the wounds on his torso. She couldn't help but feel a bit off. She saw many strangers with blood all over them, but not someone she had talked to only a few days ago. Last time she saw him, he walked her home after an anxiety attack.

Alicia looked at the big bruise at his chest. "Damn, they really roughed you up." She cleared her throat. "We'll get you to Chicago Med, we need to check for internal injuries, just to make sure. But it seems you got lucky." She put his finger under his chin and moved his head slightly to the side. "Any sharp pain when you move your head?"

"No." He lowered his head and looked to the ground. She could physically feel his distress and recognized the emptiness in in the eyes of someone who was just removed from a very stressful situation. She hesitated what to do for a moment, since, well, she knew him. She finally put her hand on his shoulder and whispered, "It'll be alright. You'll be alright." She kept her hand on his bare shoulder, when calling for Brett.

After they dropped him off at the hospital, she asked for him every time they got to Med, to see if he was still there. He was released after a day of tests that showed no internal damage, nurse April told her, and without further thinking – which wasn't her style, at all – she found herself standing in front of his apartment, knocking on his door.