Hello everybody! So this is my first ever Chicago Fire Story. This is set after Matt leaves in Season 10. I have not watched past Season 7 yet, so if I'm getting any details wrong, don't be mad. I have read up on recent events, but obviously I don't know everything. I have seen a bit of Casey and Brett together, and I must say, I'm not a fan. Sylvie is not going to be the monster of this story, but this will definitely be Dawsey.

I'm looking forward to your reviews!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

She had been toying with the idea of returning to Chicago for a while. While her work in Puerto Rico had been rewarding, it just never became home. At this point in her life, she just felt like she was ready to settle down.

Gabby's life hadn't exactly turned out as she'd imagined it: she thought by 35 she'd sit in her house with her husband watching their kids play. But here she was in her mid-thirties, single, divorced, childless.

She'd been off to a good start: marrying the love of her life, planning their lives together with a job she loved and a family of the most amazing people she could ever imagine around her. Finding out the reality of her situation had hit her hard. She was willing to take the risk, put her life on the line for the opportunity of finally starting her own family. His decision not to support her in that had hit her hard. She just needed space, so she took that job in Puerto Rico.

What came after that hit her even harder. He seemed eager to get those divorce papers to her, taking every chance of ever working out their problems from her. She knew he was hurt too, just wanted to move on. She had every intention of coming back to Chicago when the time was right, when she had come to terms with their new reality. But those papers changed everything.

So she just stayed away. Stayed away from Chicago and her family at the firehouse.

After a few months in Puerto Rico, she made the rash decision of enrolling in medical school. She figured, if she could have nothing of the life she had envisioned for herself, she should at least get to fulfill this one dream: to become a doctor.

She was able to take all the basic classes alongside her relief work, already having a broad medical foundation and having taken prep-classes in Chicago years ago. When she came back to Chicago for the fundraiser, she told nobody about it. This was her thing and she didn't want to explain it to anybody. She had felt a second of doubt after her night with Matt, it took a lot from her, getting on the plane that day. But when he never called her after the voicemail she left, she knew she had made the right decision to return to Puerto Rico and focus on her life there.

The past two years, she had worked as a student doctor in the University District Hospital in San Juan and she was proud to say, she had now graduated medical school with honors. While being offered a spot in the hospital's residency program, she knew it was her time to go. She had made good friends in med school, but nothing compared to her family at 51.

So she packed up her apartment in which she had lived for the past 4 years and had her few belongings shipped to Chicago, put into storage. She didn't even know what she wanted to do yet, not having a place in any residency program, but she knew it was her time to leave Puerto Rico and she figured, Chicago was as good a place as any, to start figuring out what she was going to do.

It was early December and Antonio had been back in Chicago for a while, so she would be staying with him for the time being. She was looking forward to spending Christmas with her brother, father, niece and nephew, it had been way too long since she had seen them.

Nevertheless, she was nervous to be back in the city that held so many memories. She had lost her best friend in this city, almost lost her father and brother, and messed up her marriage, not to mention countless hard calls, pain and heartache. But this was also the city of her childhood, really the only home she had ever known. At least for now, it was the place she needed to be in.

So here she was, standing in front of the firehouse she hadn't put her eyes on in more than two years. She was beyond nervous of facing everybody, but she knew it was time. Taking one last look at Otis' memorial, she entered the garage, taking in a deep breath. Truck, Engine and Ambo seemed to be out, but Squad still sat in its usual spot, with the four squad guys sitting around their table.

Cruz saw her first, his jaw dropping. "No. Way." he gasped, drawing the others' attention to their visitor, each one of them looking equally surprised. Severide snapped out of it first, a cheeky smile spreading across his face before pushing himself off the leather armchair and walking towards her.

Gabby's nerves eased slightly as she was looking into the smiling faces of her former colleagues. Kelly was on his way over to her. "I knew you couldn't stay away forever.", he exclaimed with a cheeky smile before opening his arms and wrapping her up in a tight hug.

"Hey guys." Gabby smiled, hugging Kelly back happily.

"Come on, sit with us." Kelly invited, releasing Gabby from their hug and leading her over to the table. Cruz, Capp and Tony got up, each giving Gabby a warm hug before they all sat down.

"So, how long are you in town for?" Cruz asked casually, asking that one question she knew was coming.

"Actually, I'm not sure…" Gabby said vaguely. It was the truth, she had no idea what, or where, was next for her. "I moved back here for now. I'm staying with Antonio until I figured that out." she revealed.

"So you're back for good? You coming back to CFD?" Cruz exclaimed.

"I don't know, Cruz. Actually, I'm not too sure what I'm going to do next." Gabby said. "So what's new with you all?", she changed the subject, not wanting to talk about the messy state her life was currently in.

The guys started to fill her in happily, Kelly telling her all about his engagement to Stella, her Girls on Fire program and his finacée passing her lieutenant exam, clearly busting with pride. Meanwhile Joe was telling Gabby all about his wife and son, Tony and Capp also filling her in on recent events.

While Gabby was happy for her friends, it was a little hard for her to believe that even Severide had seemingly settled down. It made her feel a pinch of jealousy, seeing everyone move forward with their lives while she still seemed to be stuck in the past.

Of course she was proud of her professional achievements, she would have never thought she was ever going to be a doctor, but her private life was pretty much at the same status it was at when she was 20, only adding a divorce following a failed, way too short marriage.

She put on a brave face, congratulating her friends, apologizing to Cruz for not being able to make it to his wedding. She remembered the day she found the invitation in her mail, touched that she was still considered, even though she never even met Joe's fiancée, but she just couldn't stomach seeing Matt again, not wanting to feel the embarrassment of being rejected.

Before she knew it, Truck was rolling back in the firehouse, followed by ambo and engine a few moments later. Wordlessly, she watched the guys jumping out the truck one after the other, while Brett and a woman Gabby had never seen before exited the ambulance. Sylvie's eyes widened, when she saw the familiar latina standing next to Severide.

Gabby however was a little more occupied watching the guys get off the truck. To her irritation, Matt wasn't there. She felt a pang of disappointment but also a fair share of relief, seemingly not having to face her ex-husband right now.

Before she knew it, she was wrapped up in a tight hug. "Gabby, it's so good to see you! It's been forever!" Brett exclaimed.

"Hi Sylvie." Gabby smiled and hugged her former partner back, not noticing the looks Severide and some of the others exchanged. They were sure Gabby didn't know of Brett's relationship with Casey, none of them wanting to be the one to tell her.

When Sylvie let go, Gabby was wrapped up in more hugs by Kidd, Hermann and Mouch.

"Well hello Lieutenants." Gabby laughed, congratulating Hermann and Stella after noting the red badges on their collars. Introductions to the new members of the house were made and a few stories of Gabby's more legendary calls told.

Finally, Chief Boden came up behind the group of firefighters, flashing Gabby one of his smiles.

"It's good to see you, Dawson." he said, before wrapping her in a hug like the rest of his firefighters before him. "Good to see you, too Chief." Gabby replied sincerely.

The group of 51 headed into the common room, inviting Gabby to stay for lunch.

On their way in, Gabby casually pulled Stella to the side. "Hey, where is Casey?" she asked casually. Stella's smile fell instantly, she had hoped her friend somehow already knew about the Captain's recent move out of state.

"You don't know…" Stella began, feeling uncomfortable being the one to tell her. Gabby's face instantly fell when she saw Kidd's preoccupied expression, instantly fearing the worst.

"Oh my god, is he okay?" Gabby asked, worried.

"Oh, yes, it's not that. Casey is not with the CFD anymore, Gabby. He actually moved to Oregon a few months back, to take care of Andy's kids." Stella explained.

Gabby couldn't believe it. Matt had moved out of state, to take care of Ben and Griffin of all things, and she had just missed it. Given, she had not really kept in touch with any of her 51 family, she just figured someone would have already told her. To be honest, she thought Matt would have the decency to tell her. They had not kept in touch, but she always liked to believe he would at least tell her, when he made life changing decisions.

"Oh okay… Thank you for telling me Stella." Gabby said, Stella not missing the sad tone in her voice.

"Hey girl, sorry I just jumped that on you. How about you come over to our place tomorrow, so we can catch up, have a drink?" Stella offered. Gabby promptly agreed and the two headed inside to join the rest of the house.

Gabby spent another few hours at the house before heading back to Antonio's place, still caught up in her thoughts about her ex-husband's decision to leave the city.

She was looking forward to that evening with Stella and Kelly. Stella had been one of her closest friends for years and she had spent a considerable part of her time at CFD with Kelly, first as her best friend Shay's roommate, later as her own roommate and one of Matt's closest friends.

She had spent the rest of the day with her brother, niece and nephew, enjoying their movie night with beer and pizza. She had to admit, it was strange drinking with her niece and nephew, them being all grown up now. In her mind they were still little kids when in reality, Eva had graduated college and was now working in a big tech company while Diego was in his senior year of college.

The next evening, Gabby was standing in the familiar hallway, Severide still living at the same apartment he was at when she left. When the door opened she held up the six-pack she brought, flashing her friend a bright smile.

"Hey girl." Stella exclaimed, pulling her in for a hug before leading her into the apartment and signaling her to sit down on the couch. Kelly was already seated on one end of the couch, while Gabby sat down on the other end and Stella settled down in between her fiancée and her best friend.

"So Gabby, how have you been?" Kelly asked curiously, realizing she spent most of the time listening to the firefighters' stories the day before, not actually talking much about herself.

"Well pretty good actually. Being back here has been good. I've only been back for a few days, but I've got to spend more time with Eva, Diego and Antonio than I have in years." Gabby said.

"So, what made you come back here after all that time? Did something happen in Puerto Rico?" Stella asked suspiciously.

"Oh no, Puerto Rico was fine." Gabby began. "It's just, there wasn't anything left there for me, and I needed some time to figure out what was next for me."

Gabby went on to tell her friends all about medical school and her relief work. When she finished, both of them were looking at her in awe.

"So you finally did it." Stella said proudly, knowing all about her friend's original plan to go to medical school after paramedic training.

"I did. That divorce really threw me off. I had every intention of coming back to Chicago, but then Matt was so quick to have those divorce papers drawn up, so I figured, there really wasn't any point in me coming back. But I still needed something more, and I have been wanting to be a doctor ever since I was a little girl. I just figured it was now or never…" Gabby told her friends.

"He was really struggling without you." Kelly said.

"I know he was. I just needed to come to terms with everything that happened. It's not like I just up and left for no reason and he knows that too." Gabby said, unsure of how much she wanted to reveal to her friends. For the longest time she had been embarrassed about her condition, not wanting to make a big deal out of it.

"What happened?" Stella asked.

"Well, we had just decided to start trying for a baby again. We were fine until that one doctor's appointment where they found an aneurysm in my right iliac vein, making it dangerous for me to get pregnant. I was ready to take the risk but Matt wasn't. It practically took having kids off the table for him. After that, he went to an adoption agency behind my back, but I was very clear I didn't want to adopt, after everything that happened with Louis. We just couldn't agree and I couldn't live with the idea of never having kids. So I took that job in Puerto Rico." Gabby explained.

"Matt never said anything." Stella said. "Gabby, I'm so sorry. I know how much you wanted to start a family."

"Yeah well, that's over now." Gabby sighed. "So what happened that made Matt leave? You mentioned Ben and Griffin yesterday?"

"Well, Griffin turned up a while ago, revealing to Matt that Heather was back in jail. Him and Ben, they were struggling. He was looking at moving them to Chicago but that didn't work out. So he decided to pick up and leave. Those boys needed him." Kelly explained.

"Of course he did…" Gabby muttered more to herself than to her friends. "We should change the subject."

The rest of the night was spent catching up, discussing lighter topics and exchanging lighter stories of the past 5 years. Before Gabby was about to head home, Stella suggested going by Molly's the following night and Gabby gladly accepted.

When she walked into Molly's the next day, she instantly spotted Brett, Stella, Kelly and Cruz sitting at the bar, with Hermann behind the counter. Brett happily waved her over and Gabby sat down next to her, Herrmann placing a beer in front of her almost instantly. She was happily greeted by everybody and they soon fell into comfortable small talk, babbling on about everything that's been going on at the firehouse.

After her second beer, Gabby ended up telling Brett and Cruz about med school, both congratulating her. Gabby had ended up getting a call from Chicago Med that morning, inviting her to an interview for a potential resident position in the Emergency Department.

Choosing ED seemed like a no-brainer to her, given her extensive field experience and ability to work under pressure. Gabby was excited about the interview. She knew a few of the doctors and nurses at Med and felt like she would fit in well.

It was already pretty late when the door to the bar opened but Gabby didn't bother turning around. It wasn't until Herrmanns eyes widened and fell on her after he was eyeing the newcomer that Gabby turned around. When she did, their eyes locked and the newcomer froze in his tracks, staring at her in shock and disbelief.

Gabby's mouth fell open when she saw him. Matt. She had come to terms with not seeing him again for a long time, which was part of her reason to consider staying in Chicago. This was a total shock.

Matt was equally as shocked. He thought it would be a nice surprise to come back to Chicago for a few days, visiting his family back at the firehouse. Life had been a bit hectic back in Oregon, it was Griffin who suggested he should go back, see his girlfriend for a few days. The boys had been alone for a while before Matt moved, they assured him they would be fine for a few days on their own, feeling guilty for being the reason that took him away from his friends and girlfriend in Chicago.

So he packed a bag and bought a ticket, not telling anyone he was coming, wanting to surprise them.

Never in a million years would he have thought to walk into Molly's and set eyes on his ex-wife, whom he hadn't seen and barely talked to in years, sitting at the bar, happily chatting with her friends from the firehouse, as though she'd never left. It was like time was turned back. But it wasn't. He broke their stare for a second and his eyes fell on Sylvie, his girlfriend and Gabby's former partner, before looking back at Gabby. By the way they were laughing together, she had not told her about them.

Not taking his eyes off her, he walked over to the group, being greeted by his friends.

He didn't really have eyes for anyone except Gabby, though. That pull towards her he had always felt had certainly not gone away, even years after their separation. He didn't really know what to do or what to say to her, instead he just pulled her in for a hug.

Saying Gabby was taken by surprise by his reaction to her would be an understatement. She would have never thought he was just going to walk up to her and hug her, but here they were. She had expected awkwardness, but this wasn't even that bad.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered in her ear, still not believing his eyes.

"I moved back here." she whispered back, his eyes widening in disbelief. This couldn't be happening. All this time, he was so convinced they couldn't take the distance between Puerto Rico and Chicago, and now, just a few months after he decided to leave the city he had lived in his entire life, she moved back here.

Meanwhile Brett was watching with clear jealousy in her eyes, not that Gabby and Matt would notice, way too wrapped up in their reunion. So far, she had been way too scared to tell Gabby about her relationship with Matt, too scared of how the latina would react, given Sylvie had been one of her best friends. She knew it was not okay to go after your friend's ex-husband. While she didn't know how much there was still to tell, given Matt had been distant not only geographically but also emotionally, she knew she had to come clean to her friend about what had been going on.

And she had to tell her before she heard it from him, or their friendship would be wrecked forever.

Thoughts?