Thank you so much for your reviews! I love how all of you are analyzing the situation between Tris and Tobias now that Nita has shown up. I know ya'll are not happy with Tris right now. She's got some work to do but put in some faith trust and pixie dust, she and Tobias are going to work it out eventually. Please keep the reviews coming, things are about to get intense at 51!
Shauna jots down her notes on the clipboard in the Ambulance after she and Christina drop off their patient from the car accident they had just responded to. She hoped the patient was going to pull through, but the driver of the car was dead on the scene.
She was waiting for Christina to pick up a few supplies they were low on before heading back to 51.
"You coming by the bar tomorrow?" Christina asks as she hops in the ambulance. They had been on three calls, mostly their frequent fliers.
"I don't know, Eaton's in a funk and I think we might just hang out at home." The past few weeks had been tense around 51. Tobias was actively avoiding Tris while brooding.
Christina sighs and nods her head in understanding. She knew this was going to be messy with Tris and Nita back together. Their friend group at 51 had become tight like family, especially after Will died.
"Do you think he's going to get over it?"
Shauna scoffs and shakes her head. She didn't want to pick sides but she was upset that Tris had just seemed to disregard Tobias in all of this.
"I know she's your best friend Dawson, but it's fucked up she's been spending all this time with Eaton and she just decides to drop him when her ex pops up."
Christina could hear she was trying to hold back the venom in her voice, but it seeped through. As much as she wanted to defend Tris, she didn't agree with her on her choices this go around.
"Hey Prior, I think I might have found something with that arson case you've been trying to figure out" Susan calls as she walks into the bullpen of the intelligence unit.
Caleb looks up from his desk excitedly. He hadn't intended to get so wound up in this case but he'd gone into overdrive when it was clear that his sister and his girlfriend were in danger.
Susan pulls out the files she stumbled upon and places them on the desk.
"I was looking for a connection to that drug case we've been working with the Insane Kings and I saw that the suspect was listed in connection to a fire where a victim died and look here the same joker calling card."
Susan points to the photographs in the case file.
"Holy shit, he was telling the truth, he didn't start that fire"
"Are you sure?" Susan asks, crossing her arms and sitting on the edge of her desk.
"Yeah look at the dates of these other fires, he was locked up for two years during these fires" Caleb points out pulling a file he had on his desk.
"Good catch Prior"
"Wait a minute, where was this building?" Caleb asks as he flips through the other folder.
Susan sees where he's going with his thoughts and goes to a map of the city and starts plotting the locations of the fires that Caleb now has spread out on his desk.
"Son of a bitch" he whispers when they are finished.
Susan looks at him and gasps when he places a pin in the middle. All the fires circled one focal point. Firehouse 51.
"The Insane Kings have nothing to do with this, gangs aren't into arson unless it serves a purpose, there's no way one of them is a serial arsonist" Caleb reasons looking at the map.
"We might have ruled out the Insane Kings but we still aren't any closer to finding out who this guy is" Susan gives him a pat on the back before walking to the breakroom to grab another cup of coffee.
Caleb took a deep breath through his nose. She was right, but he prayed he could figure this out before anyone else died.
"Are you sure this is cool? I mean if all your friends hang out here" Nita asks nervously as she and Tris walk around the block toward Dauntless.
Things between her and Tobias were ice cold and there was a clear divide in the house. Both Tris and Tobias avoided being in the same room together. If Tris wasn't cooking, she stayed in her bunk no matter how much Christina pestered her to come out. Tobias spent most of his time at the squad table, in his quarters, or on the roof smoking cigars with Zeke and Shauna when there wasn't a call. Christina was trying her best to stay neutral but Tris could tell that she was torn.
"Yeah, We're off duty, it's a public place, I haven't been able to hang out with Chris in forever. Let's just have a few drinks"' Tris reasons with a shrug.
If Tobias was there she was sure he would avoid her just like he did on shift. Shauna had been ice cold, barely talking to her. Marlene was sympathetic, Tris thought it helped that she and Caleb were dating as she wasn't as close to Tobias as Shauna was. Zeke was all business, trying to keep the house running as smooth as possible which she was thankful for.
Nita was nervous, and Tris grabbed her hand to stop her from fidgeting. Nita was well aware of how she was perceived in high school. She owned that she tried to fit hard into the upper-middle-class social circles she traveled in because of her parents. When she and Tris became friends sophomore year after they were paired as lab partners in chemistry class, she started opening her eyes a bit. She started to let her hair down when she and Tris were alone, they had more than one argument about Nita still putting on appearances for her friends instead of being who she was.
"Hey Prior, haven't seen you in a few weeks" Tori calls from behind the bar as Tris and Nita make their way toward the end of the bar to grab a seat where Marlene was sitting.
"Hey Tori," Tris calls, appreciative that Tori was being friendly toward her.
"Hey Prior" Marlene calls a little shocked she was Tris. She notices the woman next to her whom she assumed was Nita.
"Vega, This is my girlfriend, Nita" That was the first time she had said it out loud and she catches the big smile Nita gives as they take their coats off.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Marlene"
"Caleb's girlfriend right?"
"Yep, that's me. Please feel free to share any awkward stories about him in high school. Dawson has given me so much but I know there has to be more"
Nita throws her head back in a laugh, relaxing a bit.
"Hey, Tris, Nita" Christina calls as she walks up to them after coming from the back with a case of clean glasses.
"Hi Christina," Nita said awkwardly and Tris rubbed her leg for encouragement.
She was working really hard on being herself and hoped Christina could one day see she had changed for the better. Tris was open with Christina that Nita wasn't the same person she was in high school but she didn't feel right sharing her journey. That was Nita's story to share with whom she chose.
The next 30 minutes went by seemingly well, Christina wasn't Nita's biggest fan but Tris had told her to give her a chance. She was surprised she wasn't as annoying as she had expected. Zeke was also impressed, it was odd, the chemistry between Tris and Tobias was evident, everyone could see it, but Tris also had chemistry with Nita. Caleb and Uriah had joined the group and it seemed to be the most laughs their group had seen in weeks.
Tris feels her heart speed up when the door opens and Shauna and Tobias come in. They start to make their way to an open table against the wall.
"This was a bad idea, I think I'm going to head home" Tobias sighs. He hadn't felt like coming in the first place but Shauna had pestered him so much that he gave in.
"You have got to get out of the house. Who cares if she's here T. Zeke is our best friend, you have every right to be here"
Tobias takes deep breaths through his nose. Marlene was telling a story and Tori and Zeke were fixing drinks and laughing while Christina leaned against Uriah. Tris looked happy as Nita looked over at her and it was a punch in the gut for him.
"Yeah I know, I'm just not feeling it tonight, see you when you get home," Tobias says, grabbing his coat and heading back out the door.
"Hey Eaton, You not drinking?" Zeke yells looking confused as Tobias leaves.
"What is his problem?" Zeke asks Shauna as she approaches the bar. He had a feeling but he didn't think Tobias would just give up like this, no matter how lovesick he was.
"What do you think is his problem? You know what Tris, I really have been trying to stay neutral with all of this but you don't have to rub your relationship in Eaton's face" Shauna snaps.
"What…I'm not trying to do that at all. I was literally sitting here minding my own business," Tris defends.
Nita bites her lip, this is what she had been afraid of when they first arrived.
"Whoa, can you two chill for a minute?" Christina interjects as she walks back to get behind the bar.
"I am chill, she started with me" Tris adds annoyed that Shauna had the nerve to come at her like this.
"I'm just saying what everyone else doesn't want to say. You have no right to take over all the places Tobias hangs out. You knew he would be here"
"How would I know that Preston?" Tris fires back her temper starting to rise.
"Preston, Chill" Marlene urges. She hated this. She couldn't understand why Shauna was so hell-bent on drawing lines with this.
Shauna shakes her head and rolls her eyes as she grabs the beer Tori had placed in front of her.
"Come on Nita, Let's go," Tris says in her icy cold tone as she grabs her jacket. She tosses out enough money to cover their tab silently. Nita doesn't say a word, she follows behind Tris quickly putting on her own coat.
"That was fucked up, Shauna," Zeke tells her honestly. He wanted everyone to get along. As much as he wanted Tris and Tobias to work it out, he knew it had nothing to do with him. He and Tori had their own problems to work out.
"I just thought the girl should know," She shrugs.
Christina groans. This was a mess. Tris was being her stubborn self, as usual, and Shauna wasn't backing down with defending Tobias. Something had to give.
"I'm sorry" Nita whispers as they walk down the street to her car.
"Stop that, you have nothing to be sorry for," Tris tells her as she stops walking and stands in front of Nita.
"Your friends hate you because of me," She says honestly with tears welling up in her eyes.
"Hey, it is not your fault. I am not sorry one bit that we decided to be together again. It's my choice who I get to be with, I don't care what Preston says"
Nita nods her head, her stomach still in knots from all the tension, and took a deep breath through her nose. She heard Tris but she was starting to feel that Tris wasn't being open with just how deeply involved she and Tobias had been.
Tris sits next to Christina during the morning briefing. She could tell things were still tense between her and Tobias, he barely wanted to be in the same room with her. After she and Shauna had their blow-up at Dauntless, Shauna at least seemed to be civil but still barely acknowledged Tris. There was one saving grace that day that was going to take the attention away from tension, the new candidate on Truck 81 was starting that morning.
"I'd like everyone to welcome Edward Mills as candidate on Truck 81" Max announces. "He comes from a family full of firefighters and he knows he has a lot to learn from all of you"
Tris takes a look at the candidate sitting at the table next to her and Christina. He was kind of handsome but not her type, dirty blonde hair, ocean blue eyes, well built. He looked cocky and that wasn't a good thing with a candidate. She couldn't deal with any more drama.
"Baby you look amazing" Uriah smiles as comes up behind Christina wrapping his arms around her waist as she was worrying standing in front of the mirror in her room. She was on her fourth outfit and he could see her about to talk herself out of the one she was currently wearing.
"I think this is too much, I need to tone it down" She reasons frowning at the mirror and her off-the-shoulder black sweater.
"I love this sweater on you, I think it's perfect. There is no reason for you to be stressed out about your outfit" He drops a kiss on her exposed shoulder.
"I don't want to look like a floozy the first time I meet your mother" She whines.
Uriah throws his head back in a laugh.
"Floozy, is that a Georgia word?" He teases. Even though he went to college in the south he still got tickled when Christina pulled out words he had never heard of.
"Yes," she narrows her eyes at him and then sticks her tongue out at him and goes to her dresser to find a pair of earrings.
"Do I need to remind you that you've already met my mother several times and you literally see Zeke every day…"
Christina turns around frustrated.
"Yeah, I've met her at Dauntless a few times and when she's come by the firehouse to bring lunch but now it's different. I'm dating her son. What if she doesn't like me? What if she doesn't think I'm good enough for you? Now here comes the awkward small talk, who are your parents…well, I don't have any…What made you want to become a paramedic…Now I have to do the awkward dance around spilling the awful end to my medical school journey and how I'm drowning in student loan debt…then how awkward is it because you sleep here when I'm not on shift, what if she thinks I'm not good for you…"
Uriah feels a tug on his heart as he sees his girlfriend start to cry as she bounced all over the place with her thoughts barely taking a breath as she rattled on spilling all her feelings. He gets up and pulls her to him, kissing her fully and completely.
Christina lets out a whimper against his lips momentarily forgetting why she was upset as she molded her body against his running her hands up his arms and then around his neck as he ran his hands down her back.
"Feel better," he asks when he finally pulls away and leans back.
"Yeah, Sorry…" She replies looking down at his chest with a sigh.
"You have no reason to be nervous. My family knows that I am completely in love with you. Zeke, Tori, and my mom know you grew up in foster care and I told them not to press you about anything. You can share what you feel comfortable sharing."
"Thank you" She sighs a sigh of relief and Uriah tightens his grip around her waist a little.
"And trust me, Ma knows you weren't the one to deflower me. She used to keep condoms in the bathroom for me and Zeke when we were in high school"
Christina raises an eyebrow and then giggles.
"So hurry up and get dressed so we can have dinner and then come back here so I can make love to you all night long" He punctuates all night long with soft kisses and Christina has to tell herself to get it together because now her body was humming.
"I love you" Christina had always felt like she had been dealt an unlucky hand in life, but Uriah was proof that she was beyond lucky.
"I love you too" Uriah gives her a slap on the ass before going to sit back on the bed to put his shoes on as she laughs.
After dinner, Zeke helps Uriah wash the dishes while Hana, Tori, Christina, and Dallas play a game of Candyland. Uriah smiled as he watches Christina laugh with Dallas sitting on her lap. Hana had welcomed Christina with open arms that evening, settling her nerves. She had an amazing way of soothing people, even though her time spent as a police officer she could hold her own and put you in place with the blink of an eye. Even though Uriah had given her a heads up she never once pressed Christina and moved the conversation alone if she saw Christina struggling with how to answer. Things just felt complete with their family that evening with Christina there.
"You look like you thinking about settling down bro" Zeke teases as he looks over at his brother. He could tell by the way he was smiling what he was thinking.
Uriah grins, he still had to finish his residency and things were hard to balance at times with both of their schedules being crazy but he wanted more with her, he wanted it all, he was sure of that.
"I'm happy for you, bro, Dawson's a good catch" Zeke finishes rinsing the plate in his hand and then takes the next one from Uriah to load in the dishwasher.
"And what about you and Tori?"
Zeke sighs and turns around to look at Tori smiling as she sipped her cup of tea.
"I want us to be a family, for real but I fucked up"
"So that's it, you aren't going to fight for her?" Uriah's tone was one of annoyance. He knew how much Tori and Zeke loved each other and he'd been disappointed when Zeke told him they were breaking up when Dallas was born. He'd stayed out of things between them since he's been home but Zeke needed to step up.
"I..Well...I'm.." Zeke stammers unsure of how to answer. Tori hadn't pressed him since they stopped sleeping together and she had been going on dates. He just assumed that she was done with him for real this time.
"Zeke, you want your family, they are right there. You gotta go after what you want" Uriah motions to the dining room.
Zeke nods, Uriah was right, he did want his family, the question was what could he do to show Tori that.
Tobias reaches for a bottle of water in the fridge, he tried to steer clear of the common room when Tris was there but meal times were kind of difficult. This week he'd been working on a 1,000-piece puzzle at the squad table between calls instead of being holed up in his quarters. He could tell she seemed just as tense around him when they did have one of their limited interactions.
When he pops up from the open fridge, there was the object of his thoughts.
"Sorry, I just need the hot sauce behind you," she asks softly.
"My bad, I'll get out of your way" he replies awkwardly.
They awkwardly sidestep each other and Christina cringes as she looks from the table. It was such a drastic change to see them like this, barely speaking and being awkward with each other.
"What's all that about?" Mills asks Fernando as he dumps a ladle full of chili into a bowl and hands it to Zeke.
"Mind your business Candidate," Zeke tells Edward as he comes up behind Fernando to grab a bowl.
While Edward was skilled, and probably had the potential to be a decent firefighter, his arrogance and inability to keep his mouth shut was a big problem. He had only been there for two shifts and Marlene, Tris, and Zeke were already annoyed with him. Max had reminded Zeke more than once that his father being a deputy chief meant that Edward was expected to succeed even though he didn't agree with it.
Edward tightens his jaw but doesn't say anything as he passes Zeke a bowl filled with chili.
Tobias groans as he pushes the food around in his bowl as he sits at the end of the common room table. He had no idea how this was supposed to be chili. He takes a spoonful and brings it to his nose and frowns. Even though he and Tris were done he sure as hell missed her cooking. Candidates were expected to do grunt work, clean the showers, cook, and take out the trash. Edward Mills had to be the worst cook in his entire time with the CFD.
"I think if you imagine it tastes good, it might be better" Shauna offers as she looks down at her bowl and grimaces.
"Or you could just add half a bottle of hot sauce like Prior does" Harrison sighs as he pushes his bowl away and Tris narrows her eyes at him while sticking her tongue out. She shudders and she forces a spoonful down her throat.
"You think we can bribe Pedrad into letting you cook at least one meal on shift? I could survive off one and snacks. I can't keep this up" Christina whispers to Tris as she picks up her spoon from her bowl and looks at the bowl with disgust.
"I think I'd rather eat sandwiches for a month for every meal than have to eat this," Tris laments.
Just then the bells go off signaling a call.
Ambulance 61 Truck 81 Squad 3 Fire 581 Chestnut Ave
"Literally saved by the bell!" Marlene says as everyone jumps up leaving their food on the table.
Tris looks at the building curiously when they pull up. It appeared to be some type of storage facility. Zeke assesses the situation as soon as they pull up and find the manager running out waving his hands.
"There's smoke coming from the second floor, let's get in and do a quick search, bring the larger extinguishers. 51 be ready to drop a line if needed" Zeke commands and everyone on Truck 81 jumps to action.
"Prior, Vega, Mills with me" Zeke puts on his mask and leads them to the front and up the stairs.
After about 5 minutes Zeke calls down to Tobias on the radio for a saw to get into the unit where the first fire was.
"Squad, let's move, Rameriz, grab the saw" Tobias instructs. It doesn't take them long to get upstairs
Tris grabs one of the large fire extinguishers they carried up to the second floor and points it at the door that was on fire. Mills does the same and quickly the fire is put out. As soon as it's out, Fernando and Tobias cut a hole around where the fire burned through the door. Zeke and Tobias step inside the unit to see what could have started the fire.
"Fuck" Tobias grunts out as he registers what was packed in on the shelves.
"I think we found our guy," Zeke says looking around, noting the stockpile of items.
"Eaton" Zeke calls as he makes his way over to a desk in the corner of the room.
He doesn't say anything else, he just looks down. Tobias feels his stomach turn. There on the table were article clippings about Will's death.
After radioing into Max, he calls over to Jack Kang. There was no way that this storage facility wasn't owned by the arsonist they were after.
Susan is on the scene in 20 minutes and the facility manager joins them in the unit once Tobias and Zeke give the all-clear. Caleb was interrogating a witness so she told him she could handle it.
"So you're sure this is him?" Susan asks writing a few things down in her notepad.
"Chlorine, Brake Fluid, Cat Litter, Vegetable oil, all in bulk" Marlene notes looking around.
"So someone has some peculiar tastes at Sam's Club" Susan remarks as she notes the large number of items surrounding them.
"These are accelerants every arsonist knows about, especially the really slick ones" Tobias points out. His father had taught him well growing up as he worked on cases at home. He would put money down that he was right on this one.
"And take a look here" Zeke points out to the articles.
"What can you tell me about the guy renting this unit?" Susan asks, turning to the facility manager.
"Ummmm he paid in cash 2 years in advance. We get a lot of people in and out here, I don't ask too many questions" The manager shrugs.
"Can you make me a copy of this file?" Susan asks as she purses her lips. The manager nods and gets up to go back into the office.
"What are you thinking?" Zeke asks her, noticing it looked like the wheels in her mind were turning.
"If this guy paid in cash, I bet these records won't give us much. It's technically not a crime scene. It's going to be hard to pull forensics in on this." Susan explains and Tobias huffs looking around the room.
"Yeah. Arson is almost impossible to prove but something's not right here" Zeke adds, he was going to bust this guy if it was the last thing he did.
The next shift Max takes the time to address what was going on. He knew everyone would be one edge and anxious to nail this guy.
"The items discovered in that storage unit are disturbing to us all but we still have a job to do protecting the people of Chicago. We need to let the CPD do their job, keep your head down and handle your business"
Everyone felt heavy. Someone was after them and they had no idea who it was. Shift was busy, with Christina and Shauna getting calls to see about some of their frequent flyers who were homeless and the entire house responding to a car accident that left one person in a coma.
Even though it was a busy day, Tobias kept going over the things he saw in the storage unit and the pictures he took at the building where Will died.
Marlene knocks on his door drawing him out of his thoughts.
"What's up Vega"
She takes a deep breath.
"Look I know you and Prior went back to the building where Foster died and you and Pedrad have been trying to figure out this storage unit connection."
Tobias leaned back in his chair as he looked at her wondering where she was going with this.
"Foster was my best friend, and if this really was arson, I want to nail this son a bitch if he's still out there. Let me help. I need to do something"
Tobias smiled at how on fire she was. Vega was a damn good firefighter and a loyal friend.
"Of course. We've got some evidence we can look over but the frustrating part is OFI hasn't done anything…"
"A friend Foster and I went through the fire academy with works in OFI now, should I call her?"
"Yeah, see if we can get a meeting with her after shift is over, we need to know what they found in their investigation"
Marlene gives him a smile. She couldn't bring Will back, but if she could make sure the guy responsible for that fire never saw the light of day again, it would be some type of justice.
"Thanks, Eaton" She gives him a nod before walking out the door.
Tobias nods, some way that bastard was going to pay for what he did.
