I know ya'll aren't feeling Tris. She's wrong and she's got to figure out what she wants.
"Does somebody want to tell me what the hell happened? I go to headquarters for one meeting and all hell breaks out in my firehouse" Max booms, yelling at the group in the briefing room.
He had been shocked to walk from his meeting to find tables and chairs overturned in the common room along with a broken vase as Truck 81 and Ambulance 61 pulled back in from a call and the Squad in the common room cleaning up the mess. He had immediately ordered everyone into the briefing room to find out what was going on.
"It was my fault Chief, I take full responsibility for the altercation," Tobias admits. He lost his cool, he knew better but he just couldn't take what Mills was saying.
"No sir, I'm not going to let my Lieutenant take the blame for this. Mills was out of line" Fernando interjects.
"That's right, Chief," Tris adds. She wasn't going to let Tobias take the fall for this either.
Max looks at everyone standing in the room. He knew Mills was a problem and the heat from his father was going to be something to deal with but he knew for Tobias to explode and everyone to back him, it had gotten nasty.
"Eaton, you are an officer in this house..." Max scolds.
Tobias nods, he knew he would be in trouble with this, especially if Mills was ousted from the house knowing who his father was.
"Sir, I want to write a formal complaint, I don't feel comfortable with Mills in the house anymore," Tris interrupts.
"Me either sir, and I'll write a statement about the racial remarks he's made to myself, Prior, and Rameriez," Marlene adds, moving to stand next to Tris.
"That includes me as well," Fernando adds as well.
Tris recounts the story of what happened that led to the altercation between Tobias and Edward. Marlene and Fernando both then fill in experiences that they had all had with Mills. Tris is shocked at some of the things Fernando shares that she and Marlene weren't aware of.
Zeke sighs, this was worse than he thought, and he can only imagine that other people in the house could probably add to the list. He was going to stick to his guns on this, Mills couldn't stay on Truck 81, he knew Max would support him but there was bound to be blowback from this.
Max purses his lips together as he listens. He wasn't going to stand for this in his firehouse, but he needed to dot every i and cross every t if he wanted to go toe to toe with Henry Mills about his son.
"Pedrad, I want an incident report on my desk before the end of shift. Every one of you, I want personal statements about today and any other day as well on my desk by the end of shift."
Everyone nods and gets up to leave the room. Tris looked back at Tobias before she left hoping he wasn't in too much trouble.
"Eaton…" Max calls as he crosses his arms against his chest.
Tobias stops before heading out the door.
"You are going to take some heat for this. You're an officer, you know better" Max scolds.
"I know sir, I'll take whatever consequences are doled out"
Max nods his head, at least pleased that Eaton was accepting responsibility for his actions.
"I can't say that I would've done things differently if I had been here though. Dismissed"
Tobias gives him a small smile and then heads to his quarters. He didn't want to but if things heated up, he might have to give his father a call.
The first stop on Susan and Caleb's list about Adrian Phelps was Northwestern University where Adrian had been enrolled at the Kellogg Business school according to his resume that Ruzek and Voight obtained after going back to Harold Mortgage company to speak with Phelp's manager.
"Excuse me Dr. Miller" Caleb knocks on the door to the office of Dr. Jeffery Miller, a professor at Northwestern University.
"Hi, I'm Detective Prior and this is Detective Black. Adrian Phelp's resume said he went to Kellog for his MBA and the department records show you were one of three people on his advisory committee. We were wondering if you could tell us a little bit about him." Caleb smiles, extending his hand to the man in front of him.
"Ah yes I remember Adrian, anyone who was here at that time does." Dr. smiles fondly as he stands from behind his desk to shake Caleb's hand and then Susan's. "He was gifted"
"In what way?" Susan asks for clarification.
"He would light up a room, charm, and intellect. I remember thinking this young man will be a senator one day" Dr. Miller rattles off.
"Senator?" Caleb asks with his eyes, shocked at the description.
"He never saw his wheelchair as a disadvantage," Dr. Miller says with a soft smile as he thought of his former student.
"Wheelchair?" Caleb says confused and then looks at Susan.
"Yes, Muscular Dystrophy I think it was…" Dr. Miller continues wondering why the two CPD officers in front of him were confused.
"This man…" Susan pulls out her phone and shows the picture of Phelps.
"No, I don't know who that is," The professor says, looking at the picture again.
"Okay, Thank you for your time" Caleb relays to him in a friendly tone. He and Susan immediately turn to exit Dr. Miller's office.
"We need to go to the alumni office and see if they have an address for the Adrian Phelps that actually went here". Susan tells Caleb.
Susan and Caleb hop out at the address that was provided by the Northwestern Alumni Office to see if they could track down the real Adrain Phelps. Susan knocks on the door and an older woman opens the door.
"Yes, can I help you?" she asks, looking confused.
"Mrs. Phelps?" Susan asks.
"Yes, I'm Piper Phelps," she tells them, still looking confused.
"Mother of Adrian Phelps?" Susan asks and the woman nods to confirm.
"We're looking for your son, we were hoping to speak with him. Can you tell us where he is?" Susan explains.
"Is this some kind of joke?" the woman asks, scowling looking between the two detectives.
Susan and Caleb look at each other confused again.
"No, it's not" Caleb shows his badge to her.
"How dare you! He died in an office fire, 12 years ago. They didn't have wheelchair ramps, he was trapped" she explains getting a bit choked up.
"This man isn't your son?" Susan asks, pulling out her phone to show the photo.
The woman goes back into the house and comes back a minute late with a picture frame. Sure enough, the man in the photo smiling from his wheelchair was not the man.
"This is my son Adrian" she snaps, shoving the picture in Susan's face.
"We are very sorry to bother you, Ma'am" Caleb apologies realizing this was a dead end.
"What is this about?" She demands.
"Police business ma'am, that's all we are allowed to say," Caleb tells him in a calm tone.
She nods and goes back into the house, shutting the door.
"If that guy is Phelps, who the hell is our guy?" Susan asks.
Tobias steps into Max's office with Zeke after being told he needed to see both of them. He'd known there were going to be repercussions after the fight with Mills.
"You two know that Edward Mills would have his father intervene after the altercation with Eaton"
Zeke nods his head and then looks at Tobias who had a straight face.
"I presented all of the incident reports about Edward Mills and Headquarters had decided that he will not be removed from 51"
"What?" Zeke shouts standing up.
"Calm down Pedrad," Max tells him, motioning with his hands.
"Chief they seriously can't expect Vega and Prior to have to work with him on 81 after that" Zeke argues.
"He is required to attend diversity training and is being suspended for two shifts"
"Two shifts, that's it?" Tobias repeats, breathing deep through his nose trying to control his anger.
"Eaton you are also suspended for two shifts"
"You have got to be kidding me" Zeke huffs.
"I know it's not ideal, but when the order comes down from the Deputy District Chief, my hands are tied. Document everything, if we have enough evidence, we can show them that they can't ignore this" Max reasons. He hated it when he was backed into a corner with nowhere to go.
"He's cocky and he doesn't want to listen, he's going to himself or someone else killed" Zeke snaps before storming out.
Tobias sighs as he stands up. He was going to take his punishment on the chin. He had hit Mills after all, but it didn't look good for his record. It was bullshit that Mills was still with the CFD let alone still at 51.
Tobias lets his crew know that they would have a relief Lieutenant for the next two shifts and then gathers his things from the locker room. He makes his way down the apron to his car when he hears someone call his name.
"Tobias, wait!" Tris calls after him as she jogs to catch up to him.
He gives her a crooked smile when he stops and turns around.
"I just heard that you got suspended. Tobias, I'm so sorry. I feel like this is all my fault" Tris sighs.
"It is not your fault Tris; you didn't make me hit him and I'm sure as hell not sorry I did. And it's only for two shifts" He shrugs at the end.
"Thank you for standing up for me. I appreciate it" She pulls her lips between her teeth and places a hand on his arm.
"You told me you don't need performative allyship. I took that to heart. He was out of line, and I wasn't going to stand there and let him disrespect you like that"
Tris felt butterflies in her stomach at his admission and a smile broke out across her face. Tobias rubs his thumb across her cheek admiring her as she smiles. It was an intimate gesture, and he was surprised that she didn't pull away from him. Right then and there he decided he was going to fight for her. He wasn't sure what he was going to do but he wasn't giving up on them just yet even if Nita was still in the picture.
Tobias doesn't say another word as he drops his hand and turns to continue walking toward his car. Tris looks at the sky after driving off and closes her eyes.
"What am I doing?" she mutters to herself before turning to go back into the firehouse.
She walks back onto the apparatus floor and sees Shauna scowling at her while she and Christina restock the ambulance, but Christina shakes her head and tries to hide her grin. She needed to figure out what she wanted and sooner rather than later.
"How the hell did OFI not know that Phelps was using an alias?" Jack yells in frustration as the entire Intelligence Unit stands in front of his desk.
"They look for accelerants and fire patterns, things that cause a fire. It took them this long to even know it was arson. They aren't detectives" Caleb explains.
A man walks into the office and Jack recognizes him as Phelp's lawyer.
"Give us a minute" Jack instructs his team and they clear out of his office leaving just him and the lawyer.
"My client legally changed his name to Adrian Phelps 10 years ago" The lawyer sets a document in front of Jack.
"To a stolen identity" Jack fires back leaning in his office chair as he picks up the document.
"My client's birth name was Ross Clayton McGowan" He pulls another sheet of paper out of his portfolio and hands it to Jack.
"And this is to inform you that I am also filing a complaint with the Chicago PD about how my client has been treated and I intend to sue."
Jack rolls his eyes at the threat. "Go ahead, I'm pretty sure they have pre-populated complaint forms with Kang written on them at headquarters"
The lawyer clenches his jaw but doesn't say another word as he turns to exit Jack's office.
Tobias hears a knock on the door as he lounges on the couch. It was weird being off work when everyone else was on shift. He had a class to teach at the fire academy the next evening, so it wasn't like he was going to be bored out of his mind for the next week. He was shocked that he was still allowed to teach his aerial rescue class, but he assumed they couldn't find someone on short notice to fill in for him.
He opens the door wondering who could be at the door and groans when he's face to face with his father on the other side.
"What the hell is wrong with you Tobias?" Marcus scolds, pushing past him as Tobias rolls his eyes.
"I take it you heard about my suspension" he sighs as he closes the door and walks back to plop down on the couch.
"What were you thinking? Do you know what this looks like in your personnel file? Who is going to take you seriously for an advancement in rank right now?"
"I wasn't going to sit back and let him say the things he said about Prior…" Tobias starts to defend while Marcus paces back and forth in front of him.
Marcus stops and glares at Tobias processing what he said.
"Prior, this is about you and some woman, isn't it? You are literally pissing away your career over some..."
"Dad, I suggest you stop right there. Prior isn't just some woman to me," Tobias warns, his tone deadly. "And I'm not pissing away my career"
"Chief Griswold was ready to offer you a position in Springfield, it would guarantee you a shoo-in for Chief."
"Has it ever occurred to you that I don't want to be a chief or at least not right now?"
Marcus furrows his eyebrows, his anger rising at his son's rejection of his plans. Tobias had always been so short-sighted in regard to his career.
"Why? I've heard how well you've done with the information OFI missed in this arson investigation, taking a position in Springfield could allow you to come back to Chicago as a Deputy District Chief, move over to OFI, and put you in line for Commissioner Tobias and now people will second guess your leadership capabilities."
Tobias leans forward and places his elbows on his knees.
"Because I'm happy saving lives, I'm happy on squad and teaching at the academy. Because this is what I want"
"Damnit Tobias, I'm trying to make sure you have a future in the CFD" Marcus yells.
"I have a future, it's just not the one you want for me. You can't use me to live out all the things you wanted and didn't get"
Marcus sinks down in the chair adjacent to the couch, his face softening as he listens to what his son said.
"I love being a firefighter, and I have you to thank for that but you gotta let me do it my way. Maybe one day I'll choose to go to OFI but only if that's what I want"
Tobias isn't sure what got into him, but he had never been this open and honest with his father. He thinks back to his conversation with Tris that morning, clearly, she had inspired him in more ways than he realized.
Shauna tosses her overnight bag on the floor next to the door as she comes in after shift to find Tobias on the couch eating cereal and watching TV.
"Having a nice vacation?" She says with an eye roll as she takes off her jack and boots.
"The best!" Tobias yells with a mouth full of cereal.
"Tobias, how long are you going to follow Prior around like a puppy dog begging?" Shauna tells him as she goes into the kitchen to fix her own bowl of cereal.
Tobias sets his bowl down on the table and takes a deep breath. After dealing with his father the day before it was time, he and Shauna had this conversation.
"Shauna, I appreciate how you have stuck up for me and taken my side during everything that has happened with Tris. But I got this, you can back off"
"Tobias, she left you high and dry, she's been parading her girlfriend in front of you and now you get suspended because of her, she's toxic!" Shauna practically yells at him.
"God Shauna, can you just let me decide if I want to chase after Prior or not? It's my life, I don't need you deciding which women I go after"
Shauna was furious, she slammed the cabinet, not caring about her cereal anymore, and stomped off to her bedroom slamming that door too.
Tobias grabs his cereal bowl and leans back on the couch shaking his head. His mind was made up and it didn't matter if Shauna didn't like it. Tris was the one for him, he was sure of it and he was going to make her see it too.
"Soooooooo you and Pedrad are back together officially" Christina teases Tori as they stock the fridge in the bar to get ready for Dauntless to open for the evening.
Tori giggles and she smiles so big she thinks her cheeks are going to hurt. The past few weeks since Zeke declared his love for her had been amazing. They had some long conversations about what went wrong before and agreed to go to couples therapy before moving back in with each other. They didn't want to make things difficult for Dallas if things got rocky again. Right now, they were dating again, like in the beginning and it was great.
"Yeah, it's been just fun, and he's been so sweet and thoughtful. It's been nice to be on the same page"
Christina grins as she picks up another case of beer to open. She and Tori had gotten close working the bar together and now that she and Uriah were dating, they had been spending more time together with the family.
"And how are things with Uri, I know I have never seen him this happy" Tori probes as she moves to start stacking glasses behind the bar.
"He asked me to move in with him," Christina says nonchalantly but fights a soft smile.
"Oh my God! Are you going to do it? Oh, he's totally going to ask you to marry him! Uri has never asked anyone to move it with him before" Tori squeals excitedly, clapping her hands.
"You think so? I mean we really haven't been together that long…that's a big step...I really do love him though" It had been weeks since Uriah suggested they move in together and she still hadn't given him an answer. He'd been asking to go look at apartments and she'd made an excuse the times he'd tried to make plans to view what was available. She could tell he was disappointed when she told him she was still thinking about it when he asked her before heading to the hospital that morning.
"What's wrong Chris, why are you hesitating? You two are so perfect for each other" Tori stops what she's doing and leans against the counter wanting to give her full attention as she sensed Christina's mood change.
"I just come with so much baggage, I want him to be sure, you know"
Tori pulls her into a hug. Slowly Christina opened up to her, sharing a little about her life growing up and getting kicked out of medical school. Tori was so proud of Christina for pulling her life together.
"He loves you Chris, and you two deserve to be happy. I know you've been honest with him about everything, and he hasn't run yet" Tori reassures her.
Christina bites her lip. "I guess I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Every time I'm back on track something happens…"
Tori rubs her arm in a comforting motion.
"Don't let what might happen stop you from living your life," Tori tells her before turning back to stack more glasses.
Christina pulls out her phone and sends Uriah a text.
Christina: Think we can look at apartments on Friday after you clock out since I'm off shift?
She takes a deep breath through her nose and tucks her phone into her back pocket before going back to stocking the beer. Tori was right, she deserved to be happy.
"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Nita asks Tris over the phone.
"Yeah, I'm sure" Tris sighs.
Nita was having brunch with some of her sorority sisters she had connected with in Chicago after joining the alumni chapter. It was a fancy place and that wasn't the vibe Tris usually liked. She hadn't really been hanging out at Dauntless either. Tris had gone with them to brunch the last time she was off shift which further solidified that it wasn't her scene.
"Well, what are you going to do today?" Nita asked, sounding a little sad.
"Going to video chat with Mami and Ramon then maybe catch a movie"
"Tell Ms. Natalie, hello for me. Maybe we can go to the movies together after brunch?"
Tris smiles at Nita's hopeful tone, seeing that Nita was trying to find a way for them to spend time together.
"Yeah, that sounds like fun"
"I love you Tris" Nita felt like something was off between them. With Christina talking about moving out, she was nervous about asking Tris to move in with her. She wanted that but it seemed like Tris was pulling away. She knew things had been tense around the firehouse with trying to arrest the arsonist and the incident with Mills. She resolved to herself that the next weekend Tris was off shift, and she would find something fun to do, just the two of them.
"Love you too"
Tris grabs her laptop and sets it up at her desk and calls her mother.
"Hola Mami" She smiles when Natalie's face shows up on the camera.
"Hola Hija, you look tired" Natalie frowns, and Tris chuckles.
"I'm fine Mami, I promise" She and Caleb had agreed not to tell their parents about the arsonist, so they didn't worry. They had gone to dinner with Andrew and Jeanine recently. It was oddly normal to be able to spend more time with her father even though they still didn't see eye to eye on some things.
"I know something is wrong" Natalie scolds with a smile.
Tris smiled. Her mother had been so happy to be back home in her native country even though she could tell she missed her children. She and Caleb were trying to coordinate leave so they could both visit at the same time.
"How is Juanita?" Natalie had been shocked when Tris told her Nita was in Chicago and they were together again but happy that Tris looked like she wanted to settle down.
"She's fine Mami, she said to tell you hello," Tris smiles.
"I just talked to your brother, and Marlene, such a sweet girl, I think I'll have lots of grandbabies soon"
Tris throws her head back in laughter. She had helped Caleb pick out an engagement ring the week before and she knew Marlene would say yes when he asked. She was so happy for him and Marlene, but she thinks it was adding to her sour mood. She was more torn than ever about her feelings for Tobias and Nita.
"Follow your heart Mija," Natalie says.
Tris sighed, thankful that she and her mother had such a special connection that she could almost read her mind.
"Thanks, Mami" She resolved she needed to find some time to sort out her feelings because they were getting more tangled up as the weeks went by.
"Everyone keep an eye open and follow the plan" Jack instructs everyone on his team. "Voight and Ruzek with me. Prior, Black, you radio us when Attwater and Burgess confirm the visual and don't let him out of your sight"
"Should we change?" Attwater asks, looking down at his clothes since he was wearing his standard police uniform and Intelligence always wore plain clothes when tailing someone.
"No, this guy is a smart cookie"
Caleb and Susan nod in understanding. Kevin Attwater and Kim Burgess were patrol officers at Precinct 21 who were working with them tonight in the next step of the plan to apply pressure to Adrian Phelps who they now know was Ross McGowan in an effort to get him to slip up so they could arrest him.
Thirty minutes later Attwater and Burgess are tailing Adrian as he walks down the dimly lit street. They watch him go into a small pizza shop on foot and Attwater pulls the patrol car to the side putting the lights on since it was in a tow zone.
"Come on, we need to follow him," Attawater tells Burgess as they hop out.
"We got him, Sarg" Burgess calls over the radio and they walk up to the pizza shop Phelps entered.
"There they go," Caleb says quietly to Susan looking out the rear window as Burgess gives him a nod as they enter the restaurant. Caleb and Susan were parked in an unmarked vehicle parked around the corner and out of sight. So far everything was going to plan.
Jack, Eric, and Bobby were waiting outside of Adrian's apartment for the signal and as soon as the call from Burgess comes over his radio he nodded to Eric.
"CPD" Eric yells as he kicks in the door not waiting for an answer.
"Put the warrant on the door '' Jack instructs Bobby as he and Eric do a quick sweep. "Toss it real good"
The three of them open cabinets, knock things over, pull things out of the cabinets, turning over the bookshelf. They didn't expect to find anything here, it was more agitation to get him to crack and slip up.
Burgess and Attwatter follow him into the restaurant while he orders a pizza. Keeping the charade up they order after him.
"I'll have one cheese pizza extra cheese" Burgess craned her neck to see if she could see anything, but it seemed as though he was just ordering a pizza.
Phelps turns around and looks at them as he goes to wait for his order. Burgess looks him in the eye, and she shivers a little bit feeling her stomach flip. She could feel that something wasn't right with this guy.
"We'll have two slices of pepperoni and two drinks," Attwater tells him.
"CPD eats free," the guy behind the counter tells them as Attwater goes to pull out his wallet.
Burgess grabs at a table right behind Phelps settling on a high-top stool while sneaking a look while she waits for Attwater to bring over the food.
"Your order will be right up sir, Sorry to make you wait," the guy behind the counter tells Adrian as Attwater passes him and sits next to Burgess.
"No hurry" he replies pleasantly. He suddenly gets up and heads in the direction of the restroom and leaves his phone on the table.
"Where is he going? Should we follow him?" Burgess whispers as she takes a bite of her pizza trying to look convincing.
"Just to the bathroom and he left his phone" Attwater shrugs as he sips his drink.
"Why has he been gone so long?" Burgess answered, looking toward the bathroom and then down at her watch realizing it had been over 10 minutes already.
"Just chill," Attwater tells her trying to get her to loosen up a bit.
"If he's not back in one minute I'm going to look for him. Kang told us not to lose sight of him"
She looks down at her watch again and just as she shifts to get off of her high-top stool when Phelps appears again.
"Here's your order sir," the man behind the bar tells him.
Adrian smiles at him, taking the large pizza box and then turning to grab his phone from the table he had occupied.
As he starts to walk out of the pizza shop, he stops next to Burgess and Attwater who are still trying to play it cool.
"Are you two following me?" He asks with a slight grin sensing how inexperienced the two officers were.
"No Sir, we're just out on patrol and stopped in for a bite to eat" Burgess assures him.
Phelps nods and continues out the door with his pizza box.
"Black, Prior, Phelps thinks he's spied us" Attwater radios.
"Copy that" Susan replies back. Caleb puts the car in gear and heads around the corner.
"There he goes," Susan whispers as she slouches down in the passenger seat and Caleb pulls into a parking spot on the side of the street so they can keep their eyes on Phelps.
"Got 'em" Susan calls back over the radio just as Attwater looks out the window and Phelps looks up at him as he walks by. Burgess and Attwater get up to head back to their patrol car as soon as he is out of view of the window.
Phelps stops in the middle of the sidewalk and stands there. Susan furrows her eyebrows and then looks over at Caleb. Burgess and Attwater stop and look as well confused as to why Phelps was just standing in the middle of the sidewalk.
"Wait, is he coming over here?" Susan asks when Phelps finally turns around and walks toward their car.
"Son of a bitch " Caleb groans as he sees Adrian turn around and walk toward their car.
He knocks on the passenger side window for Susan to roll her window down and he hands her the pizza.
"For the district, extra cheese" He smiles with a sick smile. Susan felt her skin crawl.
"You're underestimating me again," he says smugly.
Suddenly there's a loud boom. Burgess lets out a cry as she jumps at the sound, and she sees the fire and Attwater has a look of disbelief as he pushes Burgess behind him. Susan jumps at the noise and she and Caleb turn in their seats to see Burgess and Attwater's patrol car behind them explode. The explosion lifts the car into the air as it's engulfed in flames.
Adrian gives them a twisted smile with a laugh as he stands up and walks down the street while the four police officers watch the flames in horror.
