Hello! Again, sorry for the wait with this one. I've been super busy, and I try to only work on this story when I can focus on it completely. But I didn't mean for it to take this long. Hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter Seven

Casey stared blankly ahead as he sat at the table in the break room of the 21st district, his fingers tapping lightly on the wooden surface. With every up and down movement his hand made, a sharp pain would shoot down to his fingertips, keeping him grounded as to where he was and what was going on.

It seemed like a dream. Everything Antonio had said to him today, everything he heard and saw about what happened to Gabby, it all felt like a lie. Like this was some cruel joke, a nightmare he couldn't wake up from.

The guilt he was feeling since talking with Antonio continued to eat away at him as he sat in the empty room. This never should've happened to her, she should've never been in the position where this was allowed to happen. He should've been there, he knows it. Gabby should've never been in Puerto Rico alone, and he knows that's on him. He will never forgive himself if they can't find her.

Or worse, if they do find her but she's already-

He pushes the thought from his mind, swallowing the lump in his throat. He couldn't go there, he couldn't think about that. He refused to. He couldn't picture a world without Gabriela Dawson in it, and he wasn't about to start now.

Even though the last five months without her had been hell for him, he'd at least known she was okay. She was helping people, doing what she loved. She was being who she was; someone who always put others before them self. And he loved her for that, he truly did, he just wished it hadn't torn them apart.

But now, he didn't have that comfort. The comfort of knowing that she was at least alright, even if she was thousands of miles away. It had been ripped away from him in the span of a few hours.

"Casey is the only person who's heard from her."

Antonio's voice out in the bullpen pulled him from his thoughts, as his eyes came into focus and he looked out through the windows, seeing the Intelligence Unit gathered around a few of the desks, listening intently to Antonio and Voight as they filled them in on everything. Casey was glad Antonio had decided to involve the rest of the team with this. The more people out there looking for Gabby, the better. Especially when those people have the training to do so. But even though he was happy Antonio was getting more help, that didn't mean he wanted to hear every detail again.

So he went back to tuning out the voices coming from the other room, closing his eyes as he focused on a voice in his head. Her sweet voice filling his mind, Matt letting the memories of them flood his senses. The only thing keeping him sane right now were his thoughts of her. The thoughts of holding her, and kissing her. Thoughts of laughing with her, even thoughts of fighting with her. It didn't matter, as long as it was her. And he couldn't wait for the next opportunity he got to do those things were her again, because he was determined to get another chance. He had to. He was stupid enough to let her slip through his fingers once, he'd never make that mistake again.

"She first started calling him about two weeks ago, the day she got sent home from work-" Antonio's voice broke through Matt's thoughts again, the firefighter sighing deeply as he opened his eyes, "But they didn't talk until a week ago."

Matt's eyes snapped open as a realization washed over him. Up until that moment of hearing Antonio retell his story, he'd forgotten something. Something that had left his mind since before arriving at the district. But Antonio needed to know. If it could help Gabby, he needed to know.

Pushing himself up from his seat, he walked the few steps through the break room to the open doorway, seeing a few glances from the detectives as Antonio was still talking. When there was a break in his words, Casey spoke up.

"Antonio, can I talk to you for a second?"

Turning to face him, Antonio raised his eyebrows at Casey, wondering what was so important that Matt wouldn't have waited until he finished briefing the team. But seeing the worried look covering Casey's face, he nodded.

"Give me a second." He spoke to the group before walking down the hallway with Casey in tow. Stopping in front of one of the interrogation rooms, Antonio turned around to face Matt.

"What is it?"

"I remembered something about the first night she called me." Matt started, Antonio eyeing him, a sign Casey took to continue.

"She called me twice, but I was on the phone with Severide when she called my cell phone. So I guess she tried the house phone…" Casey's hand came up, rubbing over the back of his neck nervously.

"Spit it out, Casey."

"I'm not the only person who's spoken to her." Matt admitted, a look of guilt flashing in his eyes, "Naomi was there, she picked up the phone when I was talking to Kelly. She spoke to Gabby."

Matt couldn't read the look that covered Antonio's face as the words came from his mouth, watching Antonio close his eyes, running his tongue over his busted lip before taking a deep breath.

"So your girlfriend has spoken to Gabby." The bitter statement came from Antonio's mouth before he could stop it.

"Antonio…" Matt warned, the older man shaking his head. This wasn't the time.

"I'll tell Voight, he'll send someone to go get a statement from her." Antonio said, starting to walk back towards the bullpen. Matt followed him, seeing Antonio continue on as if there had been no interruptions. Casey crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the doorway to the break room. He could only hope Antonio was almost done briefing them. He'd feel much better once they had a plan in place, any way to get Gabby back.

"So what's the plan here, Sarge?" Halstead asked after Antonio finished, glancing towards Casey before looking back towards his boss.

"We're treating this as a missing persons case, and I think the best thing we can do right now is get a few of us down to Puerto Rico. We need to check around the job sites, go and see if we can find anything uniforms might have missed from her apartment, talk to her colleagues. We need to get a read on her life up until she was given the time off from work." Voight explained, Matt watching as the team nodded obediently.

"Who's going?"

"Antonio, myself, Burgess, and Ruzek." He said without much thought. "Halstead, Upton, Atwater, I want you three running base from here. We have no idea where Gabriela is, and while I'm not expecting much interference from the local police there, I want everything coming back here. That way we've got all our eyes on it." He explained, the group nodding.

"Everyone who's going, we're on the next flight out. Go home, get packed up and be back here as soon as possible." The three nodded, the group dispersing. Casey watched as Adam and Kim hurried down the steps, while the other three members went to their desks. His gaze found Antonio, who was walking up to Voight, leaning forward and saying something in his ear. Both men turned to look back at Casey, who met their stares with a hard glare of his own, before Voight cleared his throat and started speaking.

"Upton, Halstead, come here." The two detectives stood up, walking towards Hank and Antonio.

"I need you two to go talk to a Naomi Graham, Antonio will send you the address. She spoke to Gabby the first night she tried to get in contact with Casey, I want to know their exact conversation."

Halstead glanced over to Casey again, who had an unreadable expression on his face, before nodding. "On it." He replied shortly, Jay nodding at Hailey as the partners exited the bullpen.

"Atwater," Voight spoke, Kevin standing up from his desk. "I want you to look over these photos, see if you can find anything Antonio or I might have missed, anything that might tell us where Gabriela is." Kevin nodded as Hank walked to him and handed him the thick file full of photos from her apartment.

"Casey." Antonio's voice cut through the white noise filling the firefighter's head, the detective walking over towards the doorway he was standing in.

"So what time are we leaving?"

"You're not coming, Matt." Antonio stated simply.

Casey's arms fell limply to his sides, a look of shock covering his features as the words sunk in. But his shock was quickly overtaken by his anger.

"Like hell I'm not going! I have to help you look for her." Somehow he managed to keep himself from shouting, but the two other men left in the room were still able to hear the anger in his words.

"Casey, you're not a cop. I can't be worried about looking after you while I'm trying to find my sister." Matt shook his head in disbelief, opening his mouth to object but Antonio continued on before he could. "I know you want to help find her, I know this is killing you. But you have helped us, you telling us about the phone calls, that's as much as you're gonna be able to do."

"Antonio-"

"I know you want to be there, but I can't bring you." Antonio cut in, "my only focus is finding Gabby, and I can't be worrying about you going off on your own while you're there. You act on your emotions Matt, you always have, but that won't help us. That won't help Gabby." He said, Casey feeling his stomach sink. "I have no idea what situation we're walking into, all I know is if I bring you, it'll make my job ten times harder. It'll make finding Gabby harder."

Matt wanted to scream. He wanted to yell at the man standing in front of him and tell him how wrong he was. How if he was there, it would just be one more person looking for Gabby. How he'd never do anything to jeopardize finding her. But he couldn't. He felt powerless, as Antonio's words washed over him.

"I can't just sit here and do nothing." Casey spoke softly after a few moments of silence between the two, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I know this is impossible, I know you want to help find her," Antonio started, "but promise me when I tell you it's better for you to be here."

Casey stared at him silently, Antonio releasing a soft sigh before speaking again. "I'm not expecting you to like it, Matt. But I hope you understand why you can't go."

Matt gave him a slow nod, Antonio breathing a sigh of relief. This conversation had gone much better than he anticipated, he was expecting much more of a fight from the man. But while he knew Matt hated the idea of not going to look for her, he also knew Matt would do whatever he could to help Gabby, even if that meant staying home.

"You call me the second you know anything." Matt's voice cracked slightly as the words escaped through his lips, Antonio placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"I promise Casey, when we find out anything, you'll know. You're not gonna be out of the loop with this, alright? I swear to you."

"Thank you." He whispered hoarsely.

"And I'll let you know if anything comes from Halstead and Upton talking to Naomi. I doubt she knows anything useful, but if something does come out of it, you'll know." Antonio explained, Matt's gaze falling to the ground. Antonio noticed his change in demeanor, seeing Matt's eyes close together tightly, the man seemingly have a battle within his own head.

"Antonio…" Casey spoke softly, his eyes coming back up to meet Antonio's. "Naomi, she isn't- she's not my girlfriend."

"You don't have to-"

Casey shook his head, cutting Antonio off. "I need you to know that." He said defiantly. "I'm not trying to replace Gabby, no one could ever replace her. I was trying to forget." Antonio heard the pain in his words as Matt explained himself, the detective frowning as he listened to the heartbroken man in front of him. "But not in the way you think. I didn't want to forget about her, I just wanted it to stop hurting so much. I wanted to forget the pain, forget that I wasn't enough for her-" Matt sucked in a breath of air as his voice became wobbly, doing whatever he could to keep his emotions in check.

"I shouldn't have started anything with Naomi," Matt started speaking again once he regained himself, "I know that. And I know it's not fair to her either, but I needed a distraction. I needed something- something that was easy. Something that took my mind off of Gabby."

"Did it work?" Antonio asked him, his voice just as quiet. With a small shake of his head, Matt scoffed lightly.

"Not at all." He explained, "But it was a mistake, I need you to know that. And I know I have to explain it to Gabby too, and I will. But I need you to know my only priority is Gabby."

"I know." Antonio spoke before the man felt the need to defend himself any longer. "I was pissed at you, and I still kind of am to be honest," Antonio said with a sigh, "but I can see how much you still love her. And I'm sorry, for not coming to you sooner." Matt gave him a nod, feeling his chest get heavy as his thoughts went back to Gabby. Every few moments, it was like the severity of the situation hit him at full force all over again. And the feeling was debilitating.

"I'm gonna..." Matt trailed off, nodding towards the exit. With an understanding look, Antonio nodded.

"Go home, Matt. I'll text you when we get there." Antonio promised, Matt giving him one last nod before walking through the bullpen to the stairs, needing to get out of there.

He got down the steps as quickly as he could, exiting through the locked door before hurrying down the last few stairs. He felt Platt's eyes on him as he walked quickly through the lobby of the building, not sparing a glance at her as he continued his exit.

Matt was desperate to get out of that building, the fresh air welcomed into his lungs as he drew in large breaths once he was on solid ground. He felt like he was suffocating, like a crushing weight had been placed on his chest and he couldn't take it off. He sucked in deep breaths as he hunched over, resting his hands on his knees, willing this feeling to go away. But he knew it wouldn't. He knew he wouldn't be able to breathe again until they found her.

Halstead sat patiently in the driver's seat of the car, watching the street in front of him as he and Upton waited. They had been sitting outside of this apartment building for half an hour, waiting for Naomi to get home. They knew she was most likely still at work, so they couldn't do much more than sit and wait.

"Her boss said the latest she usually works is six, so she should be here soon." Upton mused, sparing another glance at the photo of Naomi sent from her file. Jay simply nodded, keeping his eyes open as he watched the busy street.

"So this is, uh, Casey's girlfriend?" Upton asked softly after a few moments, Halstead glancing at her.

"Something like that."

"And we're asking her about his ex-wife…"

"Yeah." Jay replied awkwardly, clearing his throat. Admittedly, he didn't know much about the situation with the former couple. Since their brief fling years ago, aside from working together or the occasional run-in at Molly's, Jay hadn't seen much of Gabby. He'd occasionally hear things going on in her life from Antonio, but they were usually just major events. Like he heard about Gabby and Matt fostering Louie, and he heard about the two getting married, but for the most part they were off each other's radars. And he was as shocked as anyone when he heard about Gabby leaving for good. While it didn't surprise him that she initially went to go help people, he never saw her as the type of person to not come back to her life. Before she left, from the little he saw, he never knew Casey and Dawson to be anything but a happily married couple, and he couldn't imagine what all Casey had been through since her departure. Jay considered them to be friends, but not close enough to where he'd feel comfortable going to Matt and asking what happened between them. He wouldn't feel comfortable talking to the man about why Gabby left him, and he imagined Casey wouldn't be too comfortable telling him that information either.

"There she is." Hailey's voice brought him from his trance as he saw Upton nod, looking up to see the blonde woman approaching the building. The two quickly climbed out from the car, shutting the doors as they started walking down the sidewalk.

"Naomi Graham." Halstead called, stopping her in her tracks as she was about to walk up the steps to go inside her apartment. She carefully watched as the two cops approached her, turning to face them as they pulled out their badges.

"I'm Detective Halstead, this is Detective Upton, we need to ask you a few questions if you have a minute." Jay spoke with a friendly, reassuring smile. Naomi stood unimpressed as she glanced back and forth between the two of them.

"I actually don't really have-"

"This won't take long." Hailey stepped in, moving a foot closer to the other woman as she spoke. "Promise." She said with a forced smile.

Reluctantly, Naomi nodded, her pose relaxing slightly as she let out a sigh. "What is this about?"

"Two weeks ago, you were at Captain Matt Casey's home, correct?" Halstead asked, waiting for confirmation before going any further.

"Yeah…" The tone in her voice showed she was clearly confused, not knowing why they were asking her about Matt. In the few hours since she was at the firehouse this afternoon, what possibility could've happened? Although the state he was in when she saw him last wasn't exactly reassuring.

"He said you spoke to a woman on the phone when you were there?"

Squinting her eyes, Naomi took a moment to remember that night before nodding slowly. "Yeah, I did. Some woman called, asking to speak to Matt."

"Can you tell us exactly what she said?" Upton asked, Naomi eyeing her cautiously. "Anything you remember can help."

"What is this about?"

"Ma'am, please." Jay prodded.

"Fine, um-" Naomi tried to run through the conversation in her head, retelling what she remembered to these detectives. "I answered the phone, the woman immediately thought she had the wrong number, said she was looking for Matt. I told her she had the right number and that he was home, and she went quiet. She didn't say anything else, and then she hung up."

Halstead and Upton glanced to one another with a look Naomi couldn't read, before returning their attention to her. "That was it? You didn't talk about anything else with her?" Hailey asked.

"No, that was it. It lasted maybe 30 seconds."

"Is there anything else you can tell us? Anything you thought might've been strange?"

"Just that she stopped saying anything once I told her Matt was there, even though he was the one she was looking for. I mean she sounded confused that I answered the phone, but there wasn't much else to the conversation. Like I said, it didn't last very long."

"Okay, thank you for your time." Halstead said, the partners turning around to leave.

"Wait- you're not gonna tell me what this is about?" The annoyance in her voice was evident, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's not important, but thank you again." Upton spoke.

"Clearly it is or you wouldn't be asking." She challenged, narrowing her eyes. "You work with that other cop, don't you? The one that came by Matt's place last week, the one Matt punched today at the firehouse." Naomi didn't miss the look of surprise that briefly crossed their faces when she mentioned the events of today, but the silent look between them answered her question. "He's her brother, isn't he? Gabby, Matt's ex-wife. That's the cop's sister."

"Ma'am-"

"That's what this is about, isn't it? Gabby? She was the woman I spoke to, wasn't she?" Naomi was met with nothing but silence. "Did she come back?"

"We can't discuss an open investigation, but again, thank you for your time. Sorry to keep you." Halstead and Upton kept walking despite the protests from Naomi, getting back into the SUV as they saw her eventually walk into her apartment.

"So Casey gave Antonio the busted lip…" Upton spoke quietly, Jay giving her a slight nod.

"I guess so." Jay murmured quietly, releasing a deep sigh before starting the drive back to the district. This entire situation was one giant mess, and he couldn't help but hope they found Gabby sooner rather than later.

Casey sat on the bed in the guest room as he stared ahead at the stacks of boxes in front of him. He hadn't willed himself to open them, not yet. But he felt like he needed to. He was going crazy, sitting alone in this quiet apartment.

When he first got home several hours ago, he did everything he could to take his mind off what was happening. Even if for a second, he tried anything he could to distract himself. But his distraction methods stopped working the minute he got Antonio's text that they had boarded and were taking off soon. He found himself spiraling, his mind going to dark places as he thought of what all they might find when they got there. The endless possibilities of what could've happened to her were driving him insane, and the fact that he wouldn't be there the minute they found out what happened was also not helping his sanity.

He knew Antonio was right, at least partially. He had a point. Matt had no idea what he would've done, but he knows the second they got to Puerto Rico, he wouldn't stop until he found her. He wouldn't have rested until she was in his arms, and he knows he would do anything to get her back. And while in his mind that would help find Gabby, he knew Antonio had his reasons to be concerned. Matt would have no problem going outside the law to get her back, and while he knows without a doubt that Antonio wouldn't either, he also knows Antonio and Voight are more equipped at dealing with things like this. Matt would run on emotion, and he couldn't promise Antonio that he'd keep himself in line. It would be an empty promise. Because he also knew if he happened to run into the guy that hit Gabby, he'd have no problem bashing his head in. He wouldn't be able to keep his composure, and Antonio was right, that wouldn't help Gabby.

But Antonio was also right about another thing, that being he hated this. He hated being here when he knew there were people out there looking for her. If anyone should be there searching for her, it's him. He could only hope when they found her, Gabby would understand why he wasn't there. That it had nothing to do with his love for her, that he wanted to come but Antonio wouldn't let him. That he said him being there wouldn't help them find her. He truthfully had no problem throwing Antonio under the bus if it came down to it, as long as Gabby understood.

But that might be his worst fear. That Antonio's reasoning for leaving him behind wasn't the truth, that there was a different reason Antonio didn't want him there. That they had no idea what they might find. The state they'd find Gabby in, if she was still in a position to be in any kind of condition at all. Matt couldn't shake the feeling of that being why Antonio wouldn't bring him. Because he didn't want Matt to see how they found her. And the feeling made him sick.

All of these thoughts had been coursing through his head since Antonio's text, and that's how he found himself here. Sitting in the guest room, staring at the boxes of her things he packed up and tucked away into the closet months ago. He hadn't made the move to go through any of them in the hour he'd been in here, but he wanted to. He needed to feel close to her, he needed to feel like she was on her way back home to him. He just needed to feel her.

Deciding to make the first move, Matt stood up, going for the first box. He already knew what was in this one, which is why he grabbed it first. Filling this box were photos of them, some in albums, some in frames, and some just sitting loose inside. Aside from a select few settled around the apartment, every photo of them was in this box. And he felt a smile come to his face at the thought of all the memories he'd find in there. A sense of calm had already washed over him as a select few memories invaded his mind.

Sitting back down on the bed, he placed the box next to him, ready to dig into its contents. He had just pulled the lid off the box when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He knew there was no way it could be Antonio already, but still he pulled it out from his pocket, just needing to check for peace of mind.

He blew out a frustrated sigh when he saw it was Naomi's name flashing across the screen, and this time he didn't bother to let it ring out before hitting the ignore button. She'd called him three, now four, times since this afternoon, and each one he'd let go to voicemail. But he didn't have the patience this time. Surely she understood he didn't want to talk right now. And if she hadn't gotten that message already, hopefully him sending her straight to voicemail would make it clear. He couldn't deal with her right now, he didn't want to. He could only focus on Gabby.

Tossing his phone to the side, he stuck his hand into the box, pulling out the first stack of photos. A smile came to his face the minute he saw her smiling back at him. He couldn't wait to see that smile again in person, and hopefully it wouldn't be too long before he did.

Flipping through the photos of them, he knew it was nothing compared to how he felt when she was with him. How she could calm him with a single touch, how she could make all his stress melt away with a single kiss. How with one look, he was defenseless against her. These photos couldn't do that.

But for right now, they were enough.

Well I know this chapter definitely wasn't the longest, but it was necessary to push us into the next part of the story, which I think all Dawsey fans are going to enjoy :). I know this was kind of a filler chapter, and I'm sorry about that, but there were things that needed to be settled and explained before moving forward. I hope you all still enjoyed it. Again, sorry for the wait with this one, but I thank you for your patience. I'm going out of town this week, so I can't promise the next update will be any quicker, but I'll get it out to you all as soon as I possibly can.

Thank you for all the love and support you've given this story. It means the world to me.