Happy Sunday! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the last chapter! Love ya'll!


Marlene and Tobias had been eager to take the next step in looking to speak with the Office of Fire Investigation. As soon as they are off shift Marlene and Tobias meet up at the Chicago Fire Department headquarters to get a meeting with Marlene and Will's friend Lynn.

"Yes we're here to see Lieutenant Lynn Morris," Marlene tells the receptionist.

"Just a minute," the receptionist tells them with a smile before picking up her telephone.

"How well do you know her?" Tobias asks Marlene as they sit down in the two chairs across from the reception desk.

"We leaned on each other during the fire academy. She was great. To be honest, she had a crush on me and Foster had to break it to her that I was straight," Marlene smiles at the memories. Lynn was petite and most had counted her out during their training, but she was tougher than she looked. It wasn't a shock to Marlene or Will when she finished the academy with the fastest time on record in almost 5 years.

"She's good people, she, Foster, and I would get drinks and catch up every now and then but I haven't seen her since the funeral"

After about 10 minutes Marlene and Tobias sit down in the two chairs facing Lynn's desk after Marlene hugs her and she introduces Tobias who then hands over everything he's reviewed so far.

"So you think this is related to Foster's death," Lynn asks after hearing what Tobias has put together and looking over the documents in the file folder.

"We know OFI has already completed their investigation but Morris, can you do anything to reopen the case?" Marlene pleads.

Lynn sighs, Will Foster had been a great guy and good firefighter, it broke her heart when she saw he died on the job. She wanted to help but in the year she had been at OFI since being promoted, she learned politics and bureaucracy played a huge part in getting things done.

"I know the investigator who handled the case, he's thorough…"

Tobias shifts in his seat already frustrated, the investigator couldn't have been that thorough if this guy had been setting fires and they hadn't made the connection yet.

"Is there any way we can look at those files? Just to see if he missed something. The burn patterns on the wall show that there were multiple places where the fire started." Tobias asks. He knew from his father that there should be documentation that would give some more clues. Hell at this point he'd even ask Marcus to look at them.

"I'll see what I can do, but I can't make any promises," Lynn says. It was tough to prove arson, but she trusted Marlene.

Marlene looks over at Tobias with a hopeful look. It was a start and hopefully Lynn would come through for them.


Two days later, Marlene sips her coffee at a coffee shop on the north side of Chicago, as she looks around waiting for Lynn to join her. Something had to be up for her not to want to meet in her office. The place they had chosen to meet was definitely not a place anyone at CFD headquarters would be.

"Hey" She smiles as Lynn slides into the seat in front of her. "I ordered for you, I remember you like green tea instead of coffee" Lynn smiles gratefully.

"I know how close you and Foster were," Lynn tells her after the waitress brings her order.

Marlene nods, even though it has been eight months since his death, she still misses him every day.

Lynn slides her a flash drive and Marlene quickly takes it and then takes a sip of her coffee just in case anyone was watching.

"It can't get out that I let you see this, I would be fired on the spot," Lynn warns her.

"Understood" She was grateful for Lynn's help. Caleb was doing what he could on the CPD end, but she was going to find this guy. She owed that to Will but she was nervous. If this guy had it out for 51, this was going to get ugly.


It was late, half of the firehouse was asleep, but Marlene, Zeke and Tobias huddled around Zeke's laptop looking at the file Lynn had snuck her from OFI.

Tobias turns his head as he looks at the picture.

"You see that…paper" He points out at the picture he had enlarged.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Marlene asks, leaning in closer. She knew that Tobias had great instincts for looking at arson cases learned from his father. She was definitely impressed at what he picked up on.

"It's a trailer" Zeke nods, catching on to what Tobias was looking at.

"Yup, It's a way to way to spread fire from where it starts to other flammable material"

"That way it doesn't look like arson" Zeke adds.

"We gotta get back in that building," Tobias says quietly, leaning back. OFI wasn't digging deep enough, if they missed this, who knows what else they missed.


Marlene feels tears well up in her eyes as they step into the building. She hadn't been back here since that night. Zeke can sense how emotional she was, he hadn't been back either. He squeezes her shoulder and she gives him a grateful smile before they start to look for any clues Tris and Tobias might have missed.

Tobias, Zeke, and Marlene scour the area with flashlights. The building was deteriorating quickly with the weather and the damage from the fire, they had to be careful. The good thing was there hadn't seemed to be anyone inside since Tris and Tobias came right after the fire.

Marlene scans her flashlight with her eyes looking for any clues and Zeke does the same thing across the sees something that catches his eye and he stops squatting in front of the clue.

"Vega, Pedrad" He calls.

Marlene and Zeke make their way over crouching down to look at the area Tobias was poking at with the knife he bought.

"What is it?" Marlene asks, looking at the metal against the charred ashes of the floor.

"See this?" Tobias points out to the remains of what was a matchbook.

"Matchbook?" Zeke asks as he peers closer.

"Yeah, a wire would have been used to hold a cigarette in place. It would have burned down slowly until it lit all the matches"

"Slow burn the fuse…" Zeke agrees seeing the pieces of the puzzle that Tobias was putting together.

"Yeah" He agrees.

"So you were right Eaton," Marlene says, her blood starting to boil. Will was dead because of this sick son of a bitch and he almost got away with it.

Tobias sighs. This wasn't an instance where he wanted to be right. This guy was crafty and that also meant whoever this guy was he was dangerous.


"You sure you want to do this?" Tris asks Christina as she reads the instructions on the test.

"I'm positive," Christina nods. She was ready for this. All of the talk going through 51 about the arsonist had her nerves bad, she had decided she needed a project and looking into her family history seemed like the perfect thing to keep her mind occupied.

"Okay, spit into the tube and then we seal it up and send it off" Tris reads and hands Christina the test tube.

They had searched to find the at-home DNA test kits that told you about your ancestry. One good part was that you would be matched with anyone in the database that you were genetically related to. Since her mother was dead and she had no idea who her father was, Christina figured it was worth a shot to see not only what her DNA make up was but to see if she had any family members she could connect with.

"That's so gross" Tris scrunches her nose up as Christina spits into the tiny tube until it is filled to the marker.

"You are literally a paramedic and firefighter and you can't take a little spit" Christina playfully rolls her eyes.

"Do I say anything about you being afraid of moths?" Tris challenges back as Christina grabs her chest in shock.

"Low blow Prior"

Tris chuckles in response.

"Are you nervous?" She asks after Christina finishes sealing up the box.

"A little…I mean what if I really find my dad or I find my sister again? I haven't seen her since I was six, what if they don't want to get to know me"

Tris feels her heartbreak for her best friend. She was so close to her mom and brother, she couldn't imagine how Chris was feeling. Even though she and Andrew were usually at odds, she at least knew who he was.

"They are going to be excited to find you, I feel it" She sits down next to Christina on the couch and then pulls her into a hug.

"What does Uriah think about you wanting to try to find some of your family?"

"He's on board, he's being super protective though, worried that someone might show up and try to take advantage like my mother did" Christina plays with the fabric of her shirt.

She had confessed she was nervous about that and Uriah wanted to be involved before she agreed to meet with anyone if it came to that. She appreciated his protectiveness, it was something that she had never really had before.

"So how are things with you and Nita?" Christina asks as they settle on the couch to watch a movie.

She and Tris had both agreed to have a night with just the two of them. With both of them in relationships now and Christina working at Dauntless most nights when they were off shift, they hadn't had time to hang out and talk.

"Good. I know you aren't her biggest fan" Tris admits grabbing the bowl of popcorn from the coffee table and setting it between them.

Christina rolls her eyes and laughs. It was the truth.

"But she's really trying and she's been through a lot, and she's done great at getting her life back on track"

Christina sighs, if anyone knew about having to get their life back on track it was her and the few interactions she and Nita had at Dauntless, she did seem a little more laid back than she had been in high school.

"I just want you to be happy Tris…whether that's with Nita…or someone else"

"Chris…." Tris whines and throws her head back.

"Are you really still in love with her or are you caught up in nostalgia? Wanting to live out the life you couldn't have before?"

"Of course I still love her, I never stopped, to be honest," Tris bites her lip and furrows her eyebrows. Nita had been the reason she hadn't committed to a real relationship, she was the reason she was always running from commitment.

"Are you sure you two haven't jumped into this relationship again too quickly? So much has changed since we were 18.."

"She's different Chris, We needed this chance"

"Look I know you and Nita were in love when we were younger, hell she was your big love but you can't deny that you and Eaton have some kind of special chemistry between you..You really didn't fall for him?"

Tris sighs. It had been two months since she and Nita had gotten back together and she missed Tobias terribly but he only acknowledged her if he absolutely had to and that wasn't very often.

"I care about him…But I guess I screwed things up so bad with him. I just needed to figure out how I felt and he shut me out completely. Maybe one day we'll be able to be friends again" she shrugs.

"Tris, even if you think you two were just casual, he still cared for you and you hurt him."

"I never wanted to hurt him, I asked him to give me time to figure things out and he didn't want that" Tris sighs, squeezing her temples.

"So you jump straight into a relationship with Nita? Tris, you just can't react and go the opposite direction because people press you. You ghosted him and acted like you had nothing going on after all the time you were spending together even before you were sleeping together again. You wouldn't want anyone to do that to you."

Tris winces at Christina's words.

"You gotta clean that up," Christina tells her bluntly as Tris remains silent.

Christina shakes her head. Even if Nita had changed, she knew there was something about Tobias that her best friend couldn't just flip a switch and turn off. Now only time would tell how it would play out, Christina just hoped Tris made the right choice.

Christina doesn't press Tris anymore for the rest of the night about Nita or Tobias but Tris seems deep in thought as they watch movies. That night she couldn't sleep. She texted Nita before she went to sleep but she tossed and turned. When she finally does drift off to sleep she dreams of Tobias. It wasn't a sex dream even though he ran his hands all over her body. They were together just existing, laughing, lying in bed together.

She sits up in bed putting her elbows on her knees. Chris was right, she just couldn't ignore her feelings for him. This was one big mess she had created and she had no idea how she was going to clean it up because either way she saw it, she was going to hurt Tobias or Nita.


"Hey Prior, I think you got a visitor" Marlene calls from where she was organizing supplies. It was a cleaning day. Each watch had a set week to clean and reorganize the supplies for Truck 81 when on shift. For second watch it was this week. During downtime between calls, the crew polished their tools and took inventory. Tris looks up and smiles as she sees Nita walking toward her with a box in her arms.

"Hey Baby, what are you doing here?" Tris smiles putting down the saw she was cleaning.

"I thought I would surprise you and bring 51 lunch, we had a big meeting with a client and the restaurant got the order wrong and brought double the food. There are more boxes in my car"

Tris smiles at how thoughtful Nita was and that she got to see her during shift. Nita was a little nervous, especially after how things had gone a few weeks prior at Dauntless. She hoped that everyone would see it as a gesture of goodwill, not her and Tris attempting to cause trouble.

"Hey Mills, go grab the rest of the food" Tris yells.

Edward rolls his eyes and huffs annoyed that he was being ordered to carry boxes when he could be running drills.

"Candidate be grateful you don't have to cook today" Zeke snaps and Edward picks up the pace toward where Nita pointed to her car parked in front of the firehouse.

"Thanks, Babe, everyone is going to be excited they don't have to eat Mills' cooking today" Tris whispers, giving Nita a kiss and taking the box.

Tris was right in her assessment, there were cheers when everyone found out they were having a catered lunch. Everyone chatters away as they dig into the food and set it up in the common room.

"Ugh.." Zeke wines as he looks at his phone.

"What's wrong?" Shauna asks him as she sits down next to him with her plate.

"This guy popped up saying that he had a stake in the bar before we bought it and is claiming that he wants a share. The guy we bought Dauntless from never said he was a co-owner. We just got the bar turning a real profit and now I'm about to get locked into some legal battle"

Zeke was frustrated. He and Tori had put so much into Dauntless. They were literally one disaster away from losing everything they had put into the bar the last four years.

"Can I help? He may not necessarily have a case, especially based on any documentation you have, the firm allows me to do pro bono work. They would love the idea of helping out someone who serves the city," Nita pipes up from her seat next to Tris.

"Really?" Zeke sits up sounding hopeful leaning forward.

"Yeah, I'd love to help," Nita says honestly as Tris smiles.

Zeke gets up to sit in the seat next to her and they start to talk. Christina sits down across from Tris. She did have to admit Nita wasn't quite the self-absorbed prima donna she had been in high school. She looks over at Shauna who was rolling her eyes and then back to Tris who was looking across the room where Eaton was. The look of sadness on his face as he watched Tris with Nita was evident. Tris looks up at him and quickly goes back to paying attention to what Nita and Zeke were discussing when they locked eyes. Christina knew her best friend. Pushing her wasn't the answer, but even if she wasn't ready to say it out loud, she still had feelings for Tobias.


Tobias pulls his jacket off in his quarters and sits down rolling his neck around. It had been a tough call, a chemical spill with a tractor-trailer that had taken them hours to clear. He'd taken a shower as soon as they'd gotten back. He hoped they would have a few hours to get some paperwork done.

He looked out the window, Tris was walking to her bunk, he could tell she had just washed her hair to make sure there wasn't anything from the chemical spill. He still ached for her, but it was less. He missed her. He didn't know what to make of it when he caught her looking at him, he could see something in her eyes like she wanted to talk to him.

He checks his voicemail and furrows his eyebrows as he listens to the message.

"Son, Chief Grissom is in town, let's plan to have dinner with him Wed while you're off shift. He's a good connection to keep in your back pocket"

Tobias sighs and leans back in his chair. Marcus was all about using his connections to help him advance. Marcus had been on the shortlist for Commissioner of the CFD twice in his career. It had always been his biggest regret, not becoming commissioner. Tobias had felt the pressure of Marcus pushing him to accomplish things that he hadn't.

His mind drifts to a conversation he and Tris had one night in the common room.

What do you want Tobias?

To save lives, that's all I ever wanted.

Then that's what you do, save lives, your father can't control what you want for your life. Trust me I know... I'd be a doctor or lawyer or in a lab. Yeah, I could be changing lives in a different way but this is where I am supposed to be, saving them every day. And this is where you are supposed to be too.

He smiled at the memory and his smile fades. He was an idiot. He wanted to hate her, he should hate her, but he just couldn't.

A knock on the door to his quarters shakes him out of his thoughts. He gets up to greet the two women at the door with Zeke and Marlene. Cara, Will's sister, and Myra.

"Myra, It's good to see you. How's Florida treating you?" He tells her pulling her into a hug

"I needed a change of scenery, Cara's been a great roommate," She tells him. She'd gained some weight but Tobias thought she still looked good after everything she'd gone through.

"We were just giving Cara a tour of the firehouse, she'd never really seen where Will worked" Marlene explains. Will's father had taken a job in Florida after he joined the fire academy, and Cara had followed her parents even though Will stayed in Chicago. When Cara offered for Myra to move in with her after the funeral, she jumped at the chance.

Tobias follows them out into the bunkroom.

"This was Will's bunk. He snored so loud, I would throw my pillow over at him" Marlene chuckles as she wipes a tear from her eye as she points to the bunk next to hers.

"Yeah he did, I kept telling him he needed to go to a doctor about it, he would keep me up all night when he wasn't on shift" Myra laughs. It felt good that she could laugh at memories now instead of breaking down crying.

Amar comes around the corner and signals Tobias and Zeke that things were ready outside.

"Follow us ladies, we've got something you want to see," Zeke tells them as Cara and Myra look at each other wondering what was going on as they follow Tobias and Marlene outside.

Myra gasps and feels tears start to come at the sight before her. Everyone at 51 stands at attention and Engine 51 and Truck 81 are parked with their ladders extended and an American Flag hanging down.

Myra feels her chest tighten as she sees all their friends standing at attention. She missed Will so much but the respect given from 51 let her know his death was not in vain, and he meant something to these people.

Cara links her arm with hers and gives her arm a pat with tears of her own filling her eyes.

"I have a love-hate relationship with these ceremonies," Max says putting his hands on his hips.

"Will Foster was a great firefighter, there are no words that can fill the hole that he left"

Tris takes a deep breath, and she listens to Max. She wished she was standing next to Tobias but she tries to focus on why they were here.

"Marlene Vega would like to say some words"

"A lot has changed at 51, we welcomed in new friends, but here's what hasn't changed. This house, this family, it's as strong as it ever was. I think that deep down in the quiet moments, we think to ourselves, Will would want us to be better, and she would want us to lean on each other. You had an amazing brother Cara, and an amazing fiance Myra, and I am so lucky to have been his friend" Marlene chokes up at the end. It made her feel even more conviction to find the man responsible for his death.

"51 will always be Will Foster's home and the people in it will always be his family" Max continues when Marlene steps back into her place in line.

Zeke walks over to the grassy area at the end of the apron and pulls a black sheet off of a structure. Cara and Myra both gasp at the stone sculpture that's revealed. A replica of Will's fire helmet was there and his name was engraved on the stone along with the year he was born and the year he passed away.

Myra wipes a tear from her eyes and she turns to Cara who pulls her into a hug as her own tears follow.

"This will always be sacred ground where we remember those who gave their lives in service of 51"


Max looks at the envelope on his desk. Chills had run up his spine when he opened it. Inside was an article about Will's death but the return address is what had shaken him.

"Chief, what's wrong?" Zeke asks, seeing how visibly upset Max was.

"This letter just came…" he passes it to Zeke.

Zeke's face falls as he sees the article.

"That address…That's not possible…" Max stammers. He knew that address, it had been stuck in his mind for 20 years and he would never forget it.

Zeke furrows his eyebrows as he turns the envelope over, not understanding.

"That is the address of the building where I got my scars"

Zeke sinks down in the chair realizing that was also the fire that killed his father.

"You were right…these fires are connected…it's the same guy… that son of a bitch" Zeke feels his blood rising.

"He's taunting us" Max realizes and Zeke shudders.

"Call Detective Prior and I want everyone briefed, we need to be careful"

An hour later Caleb and Jack Kang look over the letter frustrated that there wasn't much they could do with it. Jack's instincts were telling him this guy was going off the rails.

"Thanks for coming over Detective Kang, Detective Prior," Max shakes Caleb's hand and then Susans as they walk out of his office toward the common room.

"No problem Chief, We're going to catch this guy, I promise you that. We'll be in touch soon" Jack tells him with a handshake.

Max heads back into his office and shuts the door to make a few phone calls to Headquarters while Jack heads back to the Intelligence office. Caleb hangs back to see his sister and girlfriend.

"Cocinaste hoy? (You cook today?) I thought I could grab lunch while I was here" Caleb yells to Tris as he walks into the common room.

"I'm on vacation since we have a candidate, tienes que venir a cenar (you'll have to come over for dinner after shift)" She teases.

Edward rolls his eyes as he continues to work on the sandwiches he was making for lunch.

"Trust us we all miss Prior's cooking even though Mills is trying his best" Marlene groans as she walks up to give Caleb a kiss.

"Maybe my sister can show you a thing or two" Caleb tells the guy behind the counter whom he assumed was Mills since he was wearing a candidate t-shirt.

"Prior's your sister?" Edward asks, looking between the two of them with confusion.

"Meet Detective Caleb Prior, Candidate" Harrison calls out from his seat at the table.

He still couldn't believe how cocky this kid was. Even though he wasn't on truck, it annoyed him that Mills didn't think he had to work his way up and pay his dues.

"Wow…" Edward scoffs as he goes back to finishing the sandwiches he was making.

"You got a problem, Candidate?" Tris asks him not liking his tone and her attitude evident in her tone.

Edward looks up and looks between the two siblings.

"I just don't get why you two don't look like Vega or Rameriz" he shrugs.

Tobias looks up from his seat at the end of the table where he was working on a crossword puzzle. Sure he and Tris were keeping their distance from each other but he didn't like the way this candidate was talking to her.

"And why would that be?" Marlene asks with just as much attitude as Tris had now.

"Well you all speak Spanish, but you're…."

"Don't finish that sentence Candidate" Zeke says annoyed. He couldn't believe he actually was going to say that out loud.

"Oh Please let him finish" Caleb interjects and Edward curses himself realizing everyone was looking at him now.

"Well he's so much darker than you and I just thought…

"Oh so you thought all Spanish-speaking people have to look like J LO?" Marlene asks him, pissed off.

"Well, we happen to be half Black and half Dominican," Caleb says with an eye roll.

"Ohhh that explains it," Edwards says.

"I'd quit while I was ahead Candidate," Harrison tells him feeling how thick the tension in the room was.

"Oh, so you assume that we got our skin tone from our father?" Tris asks walking up to him.

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"I…I..well you just said you were half Black…" Edward stammers wiping his hands nervously on the dish towel in front of him, noticing all eyes were on him.

"Ever heard the term Afro-Caribbean or Afro-Latino, Mills?" Marlene asks, narrowing her eyes at him.

"For your information, My brother looks exactly like my mother's father. Who's Dominican and my mother's skin tone is darker than my father's. Pick up a fucking book and learn about some other cultures before you make stupid assumptions" Tris adds.

She was fuming, it wasn't that she didn't get those types of questions, it just pissed her off that he had come at her so casually, she had no doubt in her mind now that his candidate needed an attitude adjustment.

"Let it go, Tris," Caleb tells her. He knew how worked up she got. This kid wasn't worth her getting upset over.

"Do you know who David Oritz is? Played for the Boston Red Sox. Or Jorge Solerno who played for the Cubs? Or what about Carmelo Anthony and his ex-wife Lala? Do you think they aren't Latino because of their skin tone?" Tris says, raising her voice.

"Maybe you should do some reading on the transatlantic slave trade and the Caribbean while you're cleaning the toilets" Marlene adds with an eye roll as she grabs Caleb's arm to walk him out.

Tris turns and walks out of the common room right behind Marlene and Caleb mumbling to herself in Spanish but the look of disgust on her face was clear.

"Candidate, think before you speak" Zeke snaps at him.

Edward nods his head even though internally he was rolling his eyes. He hated walking on eggshells but 51 was proving to be more difficult than he thought it was going to be.

Tobias watches Tris as she walks out to the apparatus floor through the window in the common room. He wanted to chase after her, let her vent at how upset she was but he stopped himself. His ego was still bruised. He wasn't sure how he was going to get over her but the truth of the matter was, he missed her. This was one big mess and he wasn't sure how he was going to get out of it.