Thank you for your reviews last chapter! I do want to make one note though before we get into this week's chapter.

After my first two stories, I realized that I didn't want to be so linear with my approach and how I created stories. This is one of the reasons I recreate the characters as people of color. With that, I didn't want to feel like I was reading the same story over and over again, so I became creative with my character pairings and their characterization after reading several stories where I like how they switched it up. In this story, I wanted Uriah and Zeke to not have the characterization of being jokesters because I feel strongly about Black men always being painted as minstrels. I've made Susan a cop because I wanted to see her as a strong. I also utilized Nita differently in Love and Basketball and in this story because I didn't want her painted as an awful person.

I've always been a Christina and Uriah fan because I love seeing Black love, I would have loved to see them together in the books in Uriah hadn't died. I started off pairing Max and Hana in HOF because of this and played with it in the Haunting of Dauntless Hall as well. In Return To Me, I paired Marlene with Lynn and Will. In Love and Basketball, I paired Marlene and Caleb because I liked the idea of opposites attracting, the smart guy and friendly but brave woman. I paired them together in this story because I enjoyed writing them as a couple. In Love and Basketball, I experimented with Tris and Zeke, Tobias and Nicole, and Tris and Nita to not make Tris and Tobias have such a linear journey. I'm not an Eris fan as much as I've tried.

Here are some stories that got my wheels turning when I wanted to push my creativity and not feel like I had to keep rewriting the same story and relationships.

The Happy Ending (on AO3, which is another unfinished story but the last part of a trilogy) - Lola Bleu where Uriah and Christina end up together. It's older but still amazing.

Tori ad Tris - Secretkeeper0024 (Sadly its not finished but I enjoyed the different approach)

Undying Love- EdenKingsley (Bumed this one wasn't finished either but Zeke and Christina are engaged and Tobias and Shauna were together before she dies)

I got the idea of pairing Zeke and Tori together from another story that the author has since taken down called The Dauntless.

My fabulous friend cjgwilliams always teases us with a Uriah and Christina pairing (i.e. Rendevous and Unexpected) and I'm hoping she will grace us with more Christina and Uriah scenes in another story :-)

I'm definitely going to continue to change it up with relationships and characterizations in the new stories I'm working on and you'll see some more playout in this story.

Its been a hard week in the U. S. and Im glad I have the FF world to escape to when I need an escape. Happy reading, see you next week! Love ya'll.


Max wipes his face as he buttons his dress shirt in the mirror. In his almost 30 years at the Chicago Fire Department, losing a firefighter never got easier. Will Foster had been a good soul and loyal friend to his comrades on Truck 51. Max was worried about how Zeke would take the loss since it was the first as commander of his own truck.

He knew how tight the second shift at 51 one was under his leadership, it reminded him of losing Reggie Pedrad.

He and Reggie clicked immediately the day he walked into Firehouse 33. Max was a few years older than him and had just become the lieutenant on Squad 4. While he and Marcus were friendly and sometimes clashed, he and Reggie were as close as brothers. He would never forget the fire that took his life, the scars on his back would always be a constant reminder of the day he lost his best friend.

Having Zeke in his house-made him proud. He had the same instincts as his father. Never in a million years did he think Zeke and Marcus Eaton's son would be best friends, but they were.

"Honey, Amar is here" Therese calls.

He takes a deep breath through his nose. Being on his third marriage he was so thankful that Therese was so understanding with how much time he needed to dedicate to 51 right now.

"I'll be down in a minute"

When he comes downstairs he smiles at the sight of Amar in his dress blues sitting with a cup of coffee at the kitchen table.

"You ready for this Boden?" Amar asks with a heavy sigh.

"We've been crawling hallways for a long time together Amin and It doesn't get any easier" He smiles up at Therese who places an encouraging hand on his shoulder as she sets a mug of coffee in front of him.

Amar was younger than Boden but they had formed a tight friendship when Amar was a candidate on Truck 90 of Firehouse 33 and Max was the Lieutenant on Truck. Boden had been a great mentor to Amar as he learned the ins and outs of firefighting, he helped him train and study for his Lieutenant's exam. When Boden was promoted to Battalion Chief and moved to 51, Amar requested to be transferred as well.

"Do you think 81 is going to bounce back from this?"

"Pedrad is taking it hard, especially since this is the first loss he had as commanding officer. Vega is going to have it the hardest. She and Foster were thick as thieves"

Amar nods, Boden was right about Vega and Foster. Any time someone new came into 51 they thought Vega and Foster were a couple even though it was the furthest thing from the truth.

"What about Prior?"

"I think she's blaming herself but that one is strong-willed and determined. She'll work through it. She's a hell of a firefighter"

"With Eaton?" Amar says with a smile.

Now Max chuckles. The chemistry between Eaton and Prior had been the talk of 51 for the past six months. It was hard not to notice it. He wasn't one of the chiefs naive enough to think that there weren't in-house relationships. He didn't mind it as long as there wasn't any drama and it didn't affect them showing up to do the job. He wondered if that's why Prior and Eaton weren't acting on their obvious feelings for each other.

"How much is the pool up to?"

"200 bucks, Pedrad is winning right now"

"This might be better than the annual chili cook-off," Max says as he gets up.


Max looks down the pew at his firefighters and paramedics. All of them sitting up, in their dress blue uniforms. Zeke, Tobias, and Amar all with white hats, Zeke and Tobias with Blue patches and their one bugle to symbolize they were lieutenants, Amar with his red patch and two bugles to symbolize his one of them with tears in their eyes as the eulogy was given.

Will's fire helmet sits atop the closed casket with the 4 starred flag of the city of Chicago draped over it. His service picture sits on an easel surrounded by flowers. The air was thick and emotional. Max had been here before but it was always harder when it was someone young who lost their lives in the line of duty.

Zeke gets up and hands Will's helmet to Myra, who nodded. Max takes his place on the front right side of the coffin as a pallbearer, as do Amar, Tobias, Marlene, Zeke, and Drew. When Tris moves to stand on the left side of the coffin, Max stops her with a gentle hand on her good arm.

"Prior, you don't have to do this" Max tells her.

"Yes I do Chief '' She responds, her jaw clenching. He admired her stubbornness.

She takes her position right behind Vega and lifts the casket with her arm that wasn't in the sling. They march taking slow steps out of the church. With Myra, Will's sister Cara and his parents walking slowly behind them.

Tris feels a lump in her throat when they reach the doors of the church and see Engine 51 and Engine 19 with their ladders extended crossing in the sky, and 5 other fire trucks with their lights on blocking the entire street all with dark draping on the front of the trucks to symbolize a death of one of their own.

What looked like the entire Chicago Fire Department in their dress blues standing at attention flanked their path to the hearse.

They pause and Tris can hear Marlene sniffle in front of her. It was so quiet, that Tris thought she could hear a pin drop but she appreciated the reverence of everyone around them for this moment. Will deserved all the respect.

"Detail, Attention, Present Arms" Chief David Hanover calls. All the firefighters, hands in white gloves, move to a salute with military precision.

"Fireman, William Foster has returned to quarters" A deputy chief calls out who was standing next to three more firefighters, one holding the American flag, another the City of Chicago flag, and the final a ceremonial hatchet used to break down doors. There was also a small table holding a bell with another firefighter positioned with a small hammer to ring it. The bell is rung three times, pauses then is rung three times again.

"He is cleared of all his duties. He is gone but never forgotten, may he rest in peace with all his brothers and sisters above."

The bell is then rung, six times in a row. It was so quiet, that the reverence of the moment hung in the air. Shauna, Christina, Harrison, Bud, and Fernando all stand next to each other still in the salute position as the rest of 51 carries the casket. They continued down the row of fellow firefighters toward the hearse, it was a moment none of them would ever forget.


Tris takes her white gloves off and removes her hat. Uriah said she would be able to ditch the sling in a few days. She already was off the pain pills and the soreness was about gone. Christina had helped style her hair that morning, slicking it back in a low curly ponytail, exactly like hers to accommodate their dress blues hat.

"You okay?" She hears a deep voice ask from behind her. She turns around knowing it was Tobias.

He cups her face and leaves a kiss on her forehead. Neither one of them had spoken about their intimate encounter the night of the fire but it was almost as if Tobias wanted to talk about it but he didn't want to be the one to bring it up. So she just accepts his gesture, knowing that the two of them were becoming more and more intertwined and she was unsure of what she wanted to do about her growing feelings for him.

"I think everyone is going over to Dauntless to raise a glass to Foster. You coming?" He asks while rubbing a hand over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Today had been overwhelming, but she wanted to be there to support the rest of the house.

"Tobias, there you are" An older firefighter calls as he walks toward him.

Tris observes his dress blues, his crossed bugles on his hat and lapel indicating he was a chief and he had several accommodations pinned on his right side. Her eyes dart back and forth between the two men as they shake hands and she realizes that this is Tobias' father, Marcus Eaton. He was handsome, she could see how Tobias inherited his height and his eyes but she assumed he looked more like his mother.

"Tris, this is my father, Retired Chief Marcus Eaton '' Tobias had told her in their late-night talks about his father and how he and his father's relationship was complicated. For all his indiscretions, he made sure that Tobias was looked after in the CFD.

"Very nice to meet you, Sir, I've heard a lot about you around 51" Tris extends her hand to shake his.

"I would think so" Tris pulls her lips together, now was not the time to be snippy but good grief could this man be any more full of himself.

Tobias lowers his head in embarrassment.

"I hear I owe you thanks for saving my son's life" Marcus admits eyeing the woman in front of him. He wasn't expecting her to be as small as she was, he could tell she was definitely stronger than she looked.

"He would have done the same for me" Tris replies shyly.

"Well, I still have some pull with the CFD even though I'm retired, if you ever need a favor, don't hesitate to call me"

"Yes sir, Thank you, sir" It was a generous offer but Tris felt like there was more to it.

"Son, I'll see you at Dauntless, Boden and I are going to have a drink. Commissioner Sanders plans to stop by as well so make sure you make yourself available"

"Yes, Sir" Tobias nods his head as his father walks away.

"Wow…He's intense" Tris comments as she shakes her head as she watches Marcus stop to talk to another officer that Tris had seen that she was pretty sure was a deputy chief.

"Yeah he is" Tobias looks at the ground and rubs his neck

"What's wrong?" Tris asks as she raises an eyebrow at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

"My father never does that, he was serious if he offered to go to bat for you"

"Well, I would hope saving your life would warrant that" she teases.

He smiles and holds his arm out which she graciously accepts, looping hers through his before they walk off to find the rest of the group.


"To Will Foster" Zeke calls from behind the bar holding up his drink.

"To Foster" people in the crowd call back before everyone takes a drink.

Tris scrunches her face up as the liquor burns going down. Now that she was here, Tris was glad that she decided to hang out with everyone at Dauntless. There was a boot at the end of the bar that was quickly filling up as firefighters from throughout the city stopped by and dropped money in for Myra. It was a somber yet satisfying feeling being surrounded by other men and women who did the job and came up to shake her hand after hearing how she held onto Tobias as he hung off the side of the ladder.

"Okay everyone, I have decided that we need to have some fun. Foster would come in and slap all of us for moping around and you know it" Shauna says from her seat at the bar they were standing around.

Marlene chuckles and Caleb rubs her shoulder and she leaned back against him. She knew it was true too. She had been up and down the past week as they prepared for the funeral. Zeke, Shauna, Christina, Tris, and Caleb had been there every step of the way with her.

"We will be off shift in three weeks, Sunday the 24th and we are going salsa dancing at that new club Pepe's on Wacker"

"That does sound like fun, I haven't been dancing in forever" Christina admits from her place behind the bar while she popped the cap off two beers.

"I don't know…I might sit this one out," Tobias says, making a face.

"Oh no you don't, Eaton! We are all going, you and Prior can partner up, she should be out of that sling by then" Zeke yells as he adds some coke to the drink he was making.

"And my sister is a hell of a dancer" Caleb clarifies and Tris covers her face with her hand. Caleb and Tobias seemed comfortable around each other now that the initial shock of Caleb showing up at his apartment demanding to see Tris had worn off.

"I think you already know that though" Zeke teases and Tobias shoots him a death glare.

"Come on Eaton, it will be fun, and working with me and Prior, you should have known we were going to expose you to our Latin roots through dancing at some point!" Marlene pushes.

"Okay, Okay I'm in" Tobias groans and takes a swig of his beer.

Tris grins, it did sound like fun and things had been so stressful she welcomed the opportunity to freely smile and laugh.


Tris flips through the channels on the TV in the living room. She was bored out of her mind. Everyone was on shift but her. She had her last physical therapy appointment that morning and was waiting on her paperwork from Chicago Med to be cleared for duty. She had come to terms with Will's death in the past few weeks. She'd spoken with the CFD chaplain assigned to 51 and she and Tobias had promised to talk things out if they were having trouble processing their feelings. Marlene was starting to come around as well and she was sure Caleb was a big part of that. They looked happy together and it made Tris happy that Caleb had finally found someone he was so in sync with.

She sits up when she hears a knock at the door. She walks over and looks out the peephole, shocked by who she saw on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" Tris asks Tobias when she opens the door.

"Are you busy?" he asks with a grin. He had been cleared for duty again that morning, part of him wanted to head straight to the firehouse but he started working on something and Tris was the perfect person to help him.

She rolls her eyes and then looks down at her leggings and sports bra.

"Oh, you just caught me in between engagements. I'm about to start binging 90 Day Fiance"

He smirks as she makes her way back to the couch and he shuts the door behind him.

"Well get dressed I have somewhere I want to take you"

"Is it Navy Pier?" She replies cheekily.

"You looking to ride the Ferris wheel again?" He waggles his eyebrows at her suggestively.

She sticks her tongue out at him and goes into the bedroom to change. A half an hour later, they pull up to the building where Will died and Tris looks over at Tobias as he shuts off the engine.

"Why are we here?" She asks looking at him, feeling her heart start to race as she looked at the now boarded-up building.

"I kept going over the call in my mind and things just didn't add up, I want to take a look around"

Tris nods as they get out of the car. She sticks her hands in her coat pockets as they walk together around the side of the building. Even though it was just the middle of October, It was getting colder outside by the day and she was bracing herself for the coming winter months.

Tobias hands her a small flashlight and he takes another out of the back seat of the car. They go around the side of the building and he pries off the board that was placed over one of the doorways.

"What are we looking for?" Tris asks as she shines her flashlight across the floor.

"Anything important and looking to see if we can find the point of origin of the fire"

"And why isn't OFI looking into this?" Tris looks over at him as she steps carefully over the debris in the building.

"OFI is backlogged; it could take months for them to get to this. I don't want evidence to go missing"

Tris nods again and she walks slowly through the room sweeping one side while Tobias looked at the other. It was a strange feeling, Tris picturing the building on fire as she and Will had made their way toward the stairs to start their search and rescue that night. It was a large building and when they make it to the back Tris sees a burn pattern on the wall, like a v.

"Is this where the fire started?" Tris calls out to him.

He shines his light over to where she was looking and smiles, she was so smart, he could tell she had an eye for investigation already. Tobias had grown up listening to his father talk about all of his major fire investigations, it had allowed him to develop those skills while trusting his intuition. Tris looked like she came by those skills naturally.

"Yes, but look at this over here"

They walk to the opposite side where Tobias had just been standing and Tris kicks over a charred piece of wood.

"Another one? How can that be?" She asks looking at an identical pattern to the one on the other side of the room.

"This fire wasn't an accident, it was arson" Tobias feels sick on his stomach as he says it out loud. It made him even angrier that Will lost his life.

Tris squats down moving some more pieces of the wood when something catches her eye.

"This feels random" she points to a charred piece of paper, when she flips it over she sees it's a playing card, a joker.

"Fuck" Tobias squats down next to her and pulls out his phone to take a picture.

"What?" Tris looks at what was left of the playing card again and then looks at him trying to see what he saw.

"Whoever's doing this, leaves a calling card, this same person started the fire that killed Zeke and Uriah's dad"

Tris feels sick to her stomach. Will was dead because some sick bastard was after them?

"Is he after us? Should we call Caleb?" She asks as she stands up. Tobias takes a picture of what he sees before standing up.

"I don't know but this can't be a coincidence, Tris. And yes, I think we need to loop your brother in on this. It's got to be something we're missing linking all these together." It was an honest answer, but Tobias had a feeling that this was far from over and 51 needed to keep their guard up.


Two weeks later Caleb pulls Zeke and Tobias to him as they all had gathered at Tobias and Shauna's before heading to the salsa club for the evening.

"I went and photographed the crime scene and it's definitely our guy. This makes 12 cases dating back 20 years"

"Wait, what? That's before my father died…" Zeke narrows his eyes as he processes the information.

"Keep an extra eye out. If this guy really is targeting firefighters some kind of way, you need to be careful" Caleb tells them and then takes a swig of his beer.

"Understood, Can we take a look at these case files? I'm not sure how OFI missed this" Zeke asks.

"OFI is looking to prove arson and move on, they aren't detectives looking for patterns in cases" Tobias reasons. Marcus wasn't the typical fire investigator, which is why he rose so quickly in the ranks of the Office of Fire Investigation. Tobias had learned from him to look deeper and analyze the facts differently.

"Do you want to keep this quiet? Or do we clue in Boden?" Zeke asks.

"Let's clue him in, he might remember something," Tobias responds.

"Okay the ladies are ready and the Ubers are on the way" Shauna yells as they all exit her bedroom.

"Damn.." Caleb breathes as he looks Marlene up and down. She was wearing a tight-fitting dress with spaghetti straps that hugged every one of her curves. Her wavy hair was pulled to one side and she had big gold hoop earrings and a pair of heels that made Caleb

"Damn is right" Zeke agrees as he finishes off his beer, noticing the way Tori smirked at him as he eyed her ass and thighs in the tight jeans and black tube top she was wearing.

Tobias tries to play it cool and not blatantly ogle Tris but good lord, she looked incredible. Her one-shoulder dress was incredibly short and hugged her body. Tobias could see himself hoisting her up on the kitchen counter and pushing her panties to the side before he...

"Eaton, you good?" Zeke asks patting him on the back and drawing him out of his thoughts. His best friend wasn't slick, he knew he was checking Tris out.

"Yeah, I'm great" Tobias clears his throat and shakes his head to clear his thoughts.

"Where's Uri?" Christina asks with her eyebrows furrowed. She thought he would come in while she was in Shauna's room getting ready.

"Got caught up at the hospital. He's going to run home and change and meet us there" Zeke informs her.

Thirty minutes later, everyone including Uriah is in Pepe's finishing their first round of drinks.

"Ohhhh I love this song!" Marlene gasps as Prince Royce blares through the speakers. She grabs Caleb by the hand and they make their way to the dance floor followed by Zeke and Tori and Uriah and Christina. Shauna and Lauren were having an animated conversation with someone Lauren knew at the other end of the bar and soon Tobias and Tris were the only ones left at their section of the bar.

Tris smiles as she watched Caleb and Marlene, they looked good together. She was happy for them. Marlene seemed to just flow and know what Caleb needed. She understood his hectic schedule and she somehow loved when he got excited about a crime document. Even though they hadn't been together that long, Tris could tell Caleb was smitten and she and Natalie had already guessed that Marlene was it for Caleb.

Zeke and Tori seemed to be having fun, they were laughing as they tried to copy the moves Marlene and Caleb were expertly doing.

"Well, I guess it's me and you.." Tobias says nervously.

"Come on Eaton, I'll show you how it's done" Tris teases and grabs his hand pulling him toward the dance floor.

"This song is a bachata so it's nice and slow"

He nods his head and swallows as she places his left hand on the small of her back and places her hand in his right hand. She smelled divine and her body was pressed close to his. He had to stop himself as his hand almost instinctively slid down to grab her ass.

"Move your hips as you step" Tris coaches as they move and she looks up. Even with her heels on she was still shorter than him. Tobias moves awkwardly at first but allows Tris to lead him. By the time the next song comes on, Tobias feels a little more confident in his movements.

"See I knew you could do it" Tris praises when the song ends and they make their way back to the bar.

"I think this was all you" Tobias chuckles as he looks down at her.

"Stick with me and you'll get better, There is nothing like a Dominican cookout where all my cousins are getting their dance on, it's the best time"

"Will you take me one day?" Tobias asks loving how big she smiled.

"To the Dominican Republic?" She asks seeing the playful look in his eyes and he pulls her close to him.

"Yeah, I think it would be fun," He tells her honestly.

Even if they weren't romantically involved, he enjoyed spending time with her. He knew he would have to deal with his feelings sooner or later but for now, he just wanted to enjoy whatever time he could with her but having her in his arms this close, made him want to tell her how he felt, and how much he wanted them to take a shot at a relationship.

"Okay, We'll do it, just be forewarned my family in the Dominican Republic are loud and you'll be eating from the time we get there to the time we leave and dancing in between," It made her heart flutter a little as they went back to moving to the music, the thought of him wanting to spend time with her and her family. He was slowly breaking down all the walls she had up and she wasn't sure how much longer she could continue to fight her feelings for him.

Tobias smiles at the thought of seeing her dancing and laughing with her family. He holds her close again while they continue to dance, reinvigorated with the thought she could be his.

"Those two are so perfect for each other" Marlene mumbles to herself as she watches Tris and Tobias as she and Caleb lean against the bar waiting for their drink order.

"You think so?" Caleb asks her, letting his eyes move to the dance floor. He smiles as he sees his sister smile big while she looks up at Tobias.

"Yeah, look at them, they can't keep their eyes off each other. It's like they're drawn to each other…."

"Sé a quién no puedo quitarle los ojos de encima (Well I know who I can't keep my eyes off of)" Caleb whispers in her ear.

Marlene turns and smiles at him while putting her arms around his neck. She wouldn't have made it through the past month without him. She had been in a few bad relationships, the last one fizzled out because he just wasn't driven and she felt like she was taking care of him. Caleb was the complete opposite of what she seemed to attract- strong, confident, super smart, always thinking trying to figure something out.

Caleb grabs her hand to lead her back out to the dance floor. He was happy for his sister, but he was happy too. Tris moving to Chicago had put him down a new path too.