I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you so much for the commentary, the next few chapters will be just as action-packed! Love Ya'll


The firefighters from 51 had been working from the time they set foot on the scene. A few other doctors and nurses from the hospital that were unharmed were helping Uriah, Christina, and Shauna with helping the wounded. More firehouses had shown up to assist with pulling people from the rubble, and the CPD was on scene to assist with crowd control, but things were still a mess. Max was still concerned because Fernando and Harrison were still trying to locate the second bomb and his gut was telling him there was another.

"Rameriez, talk to me" Max calls Fernando over the radio.

"Nothing yet Chief" he radios back as he and Harrison went through the cars in the parking garage.

"Over here!" Harrison calls for Fernando. "It's a rental car and there's a blanket over the backseat. '' He quickly drops down to the ground and checks underneath for any device and doesn't find any.

Fernando looks in the backseat and then takes out the tool they used to break car windows to open up the vehicle.

"Chief, we found our second bomb" Harrison relays over the radio.

"Where?" Max asks as he steps away from where he was calling orders to everyone digging and two people with injuries were being pulled out.

"West Parking Garage, Close to the Hospital"

There were two other firehouses on the scene now helping with triage and clearing out. Max signals Chief Hawkins that he was going to assess the situation. When he gets to Fernando and Harrison, he crawls into the front seat of the car slowly after popping the driver's side window. Fernando felt his heart racing as he watched Max ease carefully to move to get a look at what was in the backseat.

"I'm going to ask you to leave the area," Max tells them wanting to spare as many lives as he could. He was going out; it was going to be saving a life if he could.

"We aren't going to do that, Chief," Harrison tells him and Fernando nods in agreement.

Max carefully lifts the sheet covering the items in the backseat. Sure enough, there were barrels of what looked to be a handheld device of some sort connected to wires. He carefully crawls out of the front seat.

"It's on a timer but I can't see how much time is left," Max tells them. The three bombs in the backseat could level the hospital.

"Yeah, this is amateur for sure, bomb-making 101" Fernando explains.

"Which means?" Harrison asks, wiping the sweat from his brow nervously.

"That it could go off at any moment"

Harrison swallows thickly.

"Can you defuse it?" Max turns to Fernando to ask.

"Yeah, I can," he says with confidence.

"This thing is set to go at 10:30, it's 10:28," Max says looking at his watch.

"Chief…Respectfully, Shut Up" Fernando says sternly as he looks at the device, the beeping of the timer the only sound in the garage.

Max nods and puts his hand over his mouth realizing he wasn't helping. Fernando looks at the wires, going over the bomb deactivation section of the squad training in his head. He looks at the blue wire and his hands tremble a bit.

"Okay, here we go," Fernando tells them as he quickly pulls the blue wire.

Harrison wipes his face and Max lets out a big breath when the beeping stops. Fernando falls back. His legs felt weak, and his heart was still pounding but he had a smile on his face.

"God bless Rescue Squad Training!" Harrison yells as he pulls Fernando into a hug when he gets out of the car.

"Good job Ramirez," Max tells him, patting him on the shoulder.

They run back to the end of the parking garage to call the bomb squad to dispose of the materials.


"Fire Department Call Out" Zeke calls as he and his team move through the rubble.

He sees a woman unconscious, and he quickly removes the concrete covering her bloody body.

"Give her here," Amar tells him as Zeke lifts her up. Amar carries her down to where Gabe was waiting to carry her to the triage area.

"Eaton, Prior" Marlene calls out as they move more rubble to help a man who was buried get up.

"Don't worry we'll find them" Zeke tells her as they help the guy up. Marlene nods. She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. This was the work of Adrian Phelps or Ross McGowan, or whoever this guy was.

Zeke wipes his forehead as he takes a break from clearing the rubble. There were blow torches and saws going from all the other crews that had shown up to help.

"51" Max calls as they all come over to him where deputy district chief Walter was standing after getting a briefing from Max. It had been hours and so many people had died there were still people alive being pulled out, but Tris and Tobias were still missing.

"51, you've been here since the beginning of the incident. Why don't you take a step back and let the relief crews do some digging"

"With all due respect Chief, two of our own are still in there somewhere, we aren't leaving until we find them" Amar speaks up.

Max smiled, he knew his firefighters and they weren't giving up so easily. They all turn back to head to their posts except Edward.

"Don't look back tomorrow and say you could have done more" Max tells him quietly as he goes to join the others. Edward scowls but follows.


Nita stops as she walks past the TV in the break room after just refilling her coffee. There are several of her co-workers glued to the television.

"Isn't it just awful, they've been at it for hours now" Malika, one of the paralegals, commented at the sight.

"What happened?" Nita asks, looking to see what had captivated everyone's attention.

"A parking structure collapsed, or a bomb went off at Chicago Med, they aren't sure yet but there are lots of injuries. There was that charity 5k race there today too. It's a mess, at least 20 people are dead so far"

Nita watches as the news camera pans to where there are police cars and firetrucks, and she holds in her breath when she sees Firetruck 81.

"We have been told that the search is still on for two firefighters who have been trapped as part of the building collapsed after the explosion as search and rescue efforts continue," The reporter says as the lights of all the emergency vehicles flash behind her.

Nita goes blank as the reporter continues to talk and the coffee mug she was holding slips out of her fingers shattering on the floor.

"I'm so sorry" she stammers, bending down to pick up the pieces.

"Are you okay Nita?" Malika asks as she stands up to help Nita.

"Yeah, ummm I my umm… I know someone who works on that fire truck at the CFD" Nita stammers grabbing a napkin to wipe up the spilled coffee.

"I'm sorry. I bet they're fine, they are trained to do this kind of stuff right."

Nita nods and then swallows, and tears fill her eyes fearing that she might never see Tris again.


"Hey, I got a live one over here, she's pinned through" Zeke yells as he sees a woman stirring in the area of the building, he and 51 were working.

Max, Edward, Marlene, Harrison, and Drew make their way over to assess how they could help.

"Chief, over here, I think this was a chemical supply area, these might blow" Zeke observes as he sees where a fire has broken out in an area where they were assisting in moving people out of the building. He was tired, he knew everyone was, but he wasn't going to stop until he found Tobias and Tris.

"You're right, that fire is going to flash any minute" Max nods and then picks up his radio "Everyone back off of this area until we can get this fire under control"

"That lady is right there; we can grab her" Edward argues. He didn't see why Boden was being so difficult, he didn't think anyone at 51 was that skilled of a firefighter. His father had advised him to let things cool down for another few months before he could be transferred to another house.

"Chief's orders are to stay put," Zeke tells him forcefully. He knew that they could still get to the woman, but Max was going to risk the lives of his men and women with a bad call. As soon as they got the fire under control, they could get her back.

"I'm done listening to all of you, this is stupid" Edward retorts as he moves to go help the woman pinned.

"Mills get back here now" Max calls.

Edward shakes his head and continues to climb over the rubble in front of him. Suddenly, just as Max predicted, the fire reached a container of the chemicals and a giant fireball exploded. There are screams from onlookers and people still being helped.

"Mills!" Zeke yells as he watches the fireball consume Edward and he falls backward.

Drew, Marlene, Harrison, Max, Zeke, Fernando, and Amar all rush toward him. Edward screams in pain as the flames tear up his skin. Fernando reaches him first and quickly uses his turnout coat to pat down the fire. Marlene helps rolls him over as Edward grunts in agony.

"Medic" Zeke yells as he kneels next to him. He tried to keep his face calm as he saw the sight before him. The fire had burned the skin on his arms, and neck, and his entire left face was burnt including his eye.

Max puts his head in his hands in his face. There were his firefighters working to save a young man that had shown nothing but hatred toward most of them. He looked down at Edward Mills as Shauna and Christina rushed over with a gurney and everyone helped lift him onto the gurney. He knew Edward was going to be lucky if he survived this, but he was done as a firefighter.


Tris was starting to feel hopeless. She had no idea how long she and Tobias had been trapped - it had to have been hours. He was looking paler and paler indicating he was still losing blood. She looked up and moved to cover Tobias when the rubble shifted above them.

"Help, We're down here!" She yells. They had to be digging and removing rubble looking for rescue and recovery.

Tris lets out a frustrated sigh and then moves to look down at Tobias and looks over at her blood-soaked hood wrapped around his waist.

"Hey, I need you to stay with me Tobias," she tells him looking down and seeing his eyes start to flutter.

She had spent time talking to him since they had been trapped, telling him about growing up, what the beaches were like in the Dominican Republic, anything she could think of just to keep him alert and talking to her.

"Tris, you need to find a way out of here," Tobias says in a soft voice.

"I am not leaving you; do you hear me and that means you can't leave me either," she tells him with a tear escaping and rolling down her cheek.

"I love you, Tris, I think I loved you that first night we were together. I'm sorry we didn't have more time"

"We aren't saying goodbye Tobias" she whimpers while moving her hand to stroke his face as best she could.

Tobias was feeling weak like he could barely keep his eyes open, but he looked at Tris, and it made his heart content like he could let go, and then he heard her whisper the sweetest words.

"I love you, Tobias, do you hear me? I love you so much. I was scared to admit it before, and I screwed everything up, but I can't lose you. Please stay with me"

Tris grabs his hand and squeezes it tight. She wasn't lying, she loved him, and she wasn't sure of just how much until this very moment. She didn't want to lose him. She didn't know if they would make it out, but she needed to tell him how she felt. She leans down and gives him a kiss.

"You're just saying that because I'm dying" Tobias groans wincing as he chuckled after she pulled her lips away from him.

"I am not" Tris lets off a soft smile. "I fell in love with you too. I wish I hadn't gotten in my own way. You are an amazing person, Tobias. I want to sit up late at night on shift and watch tv with you, I want to fuss at you because you aren't putting enough seasoning in when you help me cook. I want to help you learn Spanish and go dancing and to Bulls games with you or have a Marvel movie marathon in bed when we are off shift. I want us to go to the DR so we can make love on the beach just like we talked about."

"Maybe I'm dreaming" he coughs wincing at the pain, thinking that Tris' words were what he wanted to hear since he was not going to make it out of this alive.

"You aren't dreaming Tobias" She reassures him squeezing his hand.

Tris starts to cry as she thinks about all the things she missed about Tobias since she'd been with Nita, and it was a slap in the face. Yes, she loved Nita, but Tobias completed her in a way that Nita didn't. He was all the things that she felt like she was missing.

"Just let me look at you" he puts a hand on her face. He smiled, she was so beautiful, and being with her made him feel at peace.

"You can let me go, Tris, it's okay, see if you can get out alive," Tobias whispers. He was so tired, he just wanted to go to sleep. If this was how he was going to die, at least he was here with Tris.

"por favor no me dejes (Please don't leave me)," Tris pleads.

"I love you, Tris" Tobias sighs as he feels his eyes close.

"I will not let you go Tobias Eaton; we are going to get out of here," she tells him again forcefully.

She saw his eyes flutter, but he was cold as she touched his face.

"I'm so tired Tris," Tobias tells her in a weak voice as he feels his eyes get heavier and heavier.

"I know you are but I need you to hold on. Tobias, I love you, please don't leave me"

A sob wracked her body, and she leaned down to lay her head on her shoulder crying softly. She could tell how shallow his breathing was. She knew he didn't have long. She feels the cool metal of his St. Florian charm on the chain he wore around his neck. He wore it every day, only taking it off to shower. She gripped in her palm as tight as she could. Tris had no idea what else to do but pray.

"Por favor Dios. No lo lleves. Me encanta. Por favor, no me lo quites. déjame hacerlo bien, sólo dame una oportunidad más (Please God. Don't take him. I love him. Please don't take him from me. Let me make it right, just give me one more chance)"

Her tears fell freely now as she felt completely helpless. She stops crying when she swears she hears a faint voice. She sits up and wipes her tears listening for any sign.

"Help! We're over here, Help!" She calls out praying that someone could hear her.

Tris scoots to where there was a metal pole, she uses the little bit of strength she has left to unwedge it and hit a metal beam next to it making a loud clanking sound.

"Please, I can't lose him" She whispers as she hits the beam repeatedly.


Zeke was exhausted, after Mills was transported to another hospital he went back to digging, even though Max had tried to push him to take a rest he wasn't giving up until he found Tris and Tobias.

"Pedrad, are you sure this is a good idea?" Marlene asks him and she rolls her shoulders. Her muscles were sore, but she knew she wouldn't stop until they found Tris and Tobias either.

She was exhausted too but she had a sinking feeling in her stomach. The longer it took to find Tris and Tobias, the less chance they had of being alive. Survivors were still being pulled out of the rubble, so she was trying to keep hope. She'd called Caleb to tell him that Tris was missing.

"Yeah, they have to be in this section somewhere, House 17 was working on the other side, I'm thinking if I go in this way I have to find them" Zeke explains as he points in the direction of the building he was referring to.

"Pedrad, at the first sign of trouble you turn around, I'm not losing another firefighter today," Max tells him in a stern voice.

Zeke nods and takes off his turnout coat and grabs a flashlight. He enters the rubble through as space they had made to pull victims out. Once he reaches the areas where he thinks Tobias and Tris are, he gets on his belly and crawls shining the flashlight ahead of him. He knew from Uriah that Tris and Tobias had to be in the section near the food court; they'd cleared rubble but there had still been no sign of them. He wondered if they had been thrown when the explosion happened and were stuck underneath the section that hadn't been cleared yet.

"Fire Department, Call Out" Zeke calls as he crawls through. He sees a hand and maneuvers to see who it was. His face falls when he sees it was a lady with blonde hair. He reached to feel her wrist and checked her pulse, and she was already dead, so he kept moving. He stops when he hears what sounds like a voice.

"Prior! Eaton! can you hear me?"

"Help, over here" a faint voice sounds and then he hears banging.

"Amar, can you hear that?" Zeke calls over the radio.

Amar yells for everyone to stop with the saws and blow torches to listen for Zeke. He hears the distinct sound of a metal bang.

"Is that you Pedrad?" Amar asks into his radio.

"No, I think it's Prior and Eaton," Zeke keeps moving again and Amar directs everyone above to clear rubble in the area they hear the banging.

Zeke crawls a few more feet and lets out a yell of joy when he moves a piece of concrete and sees Tris and Tobias.

"Thank God" Tris lets out a sob. "Zeke, we got to get him out of here, he's lost too much blood"

"It's okay, we got you" Zeke reassures her.

"Hey, next time you get caught in an explosion, call me first, you don't get to have all the fun"

Zeke teases Tobias, trying to not let the worry show on his face as he saw the dark circles under Tobias' eyes and how pale he looked under the glow of his flashlight.

Tobias gives a weak smile, barely able to open his eyes. "Yeah, this has been loads of fun," he tells him in a horse whisper.

It takes another 30 minutes before the crew can get down to them and get a backboard down to lift Tobias out. Tris feels so emotional at the cheers that surround her when she crawls out of the rubble on the ladder, but they were alive and that was the most important thing.

Max looks up at the sky saying a silent prayer that Tris and Tobias were found even though he knew Tobias was in bad shape.

"Boden" Jack Kang calls as he walks past the police tape.

"There's only one reason I can think of that you would be here," Max says getting a sinking feeling in his stomach. "This was Phelps…"

"We don't think so, we haven't found his calling card. This could have been an unrelated incident, but we don't know for sure. This was big. Phelps has made it personal; this doesn't have his fingerprints on it."

"We have to end this, looking over our shoulders not sure if it's him or not," Max growls.

"Oh, we will, and trust me, I'm not looking to put him away. I'm going to put him down" Jack promises.


Nita practically runs toward where the Chicago Police had set up a barricade to most of the streets surrounding Chicago Med. Traffic had been horrible, and it had taken her almost an hour to get there and she still had to park and walk 5 blocks to get to where people were hovering around the barricades trying to find out about loved ones. She frantically looked around - there were people covered in dust, and more first responders were present, and she looked around the people gathered trying to find Tris or anyone else who worked at 51. It was late in the day now as the sun was going down, but she sees Zeke yelling and her heart practically stops again.

She sees Marlene run past and she feels her stomach drop, Tris was nowhere, she had to be one of the ones trapped.

Tears of joy flooded her eyes as she saw Tris dirty from head to toe with her arm around Zeke and the others from 51 lifting Tobias onto a gurney from a backboard on the ground. She is about to yell for Tris when she stops.

As Christina works to secure Tobias on the gurney, he looks at Tris and he cups her face. She holds his hand there for a minute and kisses his palm. There was complete chaos around them, but it didn't seem to matter, nothing outside the two of them existed. Tobias loses consciousness again, his arm falling heavily to the side.

"No, No, No, Tobias don't do this to me" Tris cries as Christina works to check his pulse.

"He had a rod from a piece of concrete stuck in his side, I pushed it off and tried to stop the bleeding as best I could" Tris rattles off to Christina as she pulls out her stethoscope to listen to Tobias' lungs.

Shauna works to take a look at his wound on the side. Another paramedic on the scene runs over to assist.

"Airway is clear, but pulse is too low," Christina tells her. She knew Tobias didn't look good.

Shauna quickly pulls out the supplies to start an IV line and Christina holds up the saline bag for her. They needed to get him stable before they moved him.

"Cut his shirt open" Shauna instructs Zeke handing him a pair of scissors. Zeke moves quickly and the air is tense as they watch Christina and Shauna work.

"Shit, he's crashing" Christina yells as she sees Tobias lose consciousness.

Tris has tears in her eyes as she stands back. Zeke had his arm around her holding her up and Marlene was holding her hand squeezing tight.

"Come on Tobias, not like this" Zeke says with a shaky breath.

Shauna tears open the lap pads attaching them to Tobias' chest and Christina charges up the portable AED machine.

"Clear" Shauna yells backing away and Chistina hits the button. Tobias' body jumps as the electricity flows through him shocking his heart back into rhythm.

"Come on, Eaton" Amar whispers and Tris puts a hand over her mouth the stile a cry as her tears fall.

"Got a rhythm," Christina tells Shauna, and she quickly works to get Tobias loaded up into the back of the rig.

"I'm going with him, Prior you need to get checked out too," Zeke tells everyone, and he follows Christina to hop in the back of the rig.

"Let me get you some water, Tris," Marlene tells her. She felt like her heart was still in her throat and she walked toward the truck to grab a bottle of water for Tris.

Tris felt like her limbs were dead weight, she was so tired but thankfully Tobias was being lifted into the back of the ambulance to be taken to the side of the hospital that was operational. Thankfully, the bomb only took out the ER, so the rest of the hospital was functioning.

"Prior, you don't look so good," Shauna says seeing how pale Tris looked.

"Make sure Eaton is okay," Tris says as she blinks her eyes suddenly feeling a pain in her side.

She touches her side a holds up her hand as she sees blood. All the adrenaline pumping through her had made her forget all about the pain in her side. Her vision starts to get a little blurry and she doesn't feel anything when her legs give out.

"Prior, Prior!" Shauna calls as she rushes to her side. "Somebody get me a gurney!"

"Tobias" is all she can muster to say when she hits the ground, and everything goes black.


Tris groans as she wakes up, she scrunches her nose up trying to figure out where she is.

"Am I dead?" She asks when she realizes her father is looking at her with concern.

"No, you aren't dead" Andrew chuckles as he patted her leg leaning closer to the bed from the chair he was sitting in.

"What are you doing here? What am I doing here?" She was having a hard time remembering what happened and then everything came flooding back to her. She looked down to see she had an IV in her hand and was lying in a hospital bed.

"You're at Chicago Med, you were in an explosion at the hospital and part of the building collapsed," Andrew tells her trying to keep her calm.

"Where's Tobias," she says quickly sitting up but then wincing when she feels the pain in her side as the events of the explosion come flooding back to her.

"Hey, take it easy there, you had to get some stitches," He gets up and gently makes Tris lay back down.

"Stitches, what…" Tris asks as she takes a deep breath through her nose trying to get the pain to subside looking up at the ceiling.

"You had a nasty gash on your side, you passed out from exhaustion and loss of blood. The doctors went in and stitched up the gash, gave you some blood, antibiotics, and fluids"

"Why are you here?" Tris asks again after a few minutes when the pain subsides.

"Your brother called me and told me what happened after he got a call that your firehouse was involved in an explosion, and you were missing."

Andrew had felt his knees get weak when Caleb called him. No, he didn't approve of her actions, and now he was realizing it was never about what she was doing, just that she didn't want to do things his way. But to lose his child, he never wanted that. He turned on the news and was pacing in his study when Natalie called him and gave him a tongue lashing, which he would never forget. The last time anyone had been that straightforward with him had been his Aunt Edith. He'd been a crappy father to Beatrice and Caleb. He hadn't been to church since he was married to Natalie but when he hung up with her, he got down on his knees and prayed for God to save his daughter and if he did, he was going to do better.

"I'm not in the mood for a lecture on how you don't approve of my career choice right now Papi" Tris rolls her eyes.

"No lecture Beatrice, you are still my daughter and…. I…. I'm just glad you are okay…You were missing for almost 12 hours…I don't think I've ever been that nervous my entire life. I promised your mother I would not leave your side until she got here" There was a level of vulnerability in his voice Tris had never heard before.

Tris is surprised to see the sincerity in his eyes. "Mami's here?"

"Yes, as soon as she heard you were missing, she found the first flight she could to the U.S. Your brother just left to pick her up from the airport right before you woke up"

"Oh my God, I need to call my girlfriend, she's probably worried sick" Tris looks around realizing she had lost her phone in the explosion, and she had no idea where Nita was. She had to be worried sick if she had been missing and unconscious for 12 hours.

"She was here…she is worried about you, but the doctors assured us you are going to be just fine. I sent her home to get some rest… she had been beside herself"

"Oh…" Tris realizes that the first person she asked about when she woke up was Tobias.

"Well Thanks for sitting with me…." It was awkward, she and her father didn't have time alone together like this, but Andrew seemed different. He must have really meant it when he said he had been shaken up.

"I know we aren't close Beatrice, but is everything okay with you and Nita?"

"Ummm, yeah…It's complicated" Tris goes over all the things she and Tobias said to each other. She needed to talk to him, but she needed to talk to Nita too.

"While you were unconscious, you kept mumbling for Tobias," Andrew tells her, and Tris feels her face fall.

She thought she was with Tobias, but they must have been vivid dreams about Tobias, the pain medication and her exhaustion must have made them even more real.

"I could tell she was trying to put on a brave face, but she seemed hurt"

"Great" Tris groans looking up at the ceiling and tears spilling from her eyes.

"What's going on, Beatrice?" Andrew asks. "I may not be Caleb or your mother, but I'm here for you."

Tris takes a deep breath through her nose and looks at the ceiling and the tears continue to fall. She had all these pent-up emotions and she just wanted to let them out even if it was to Andrew.

"Have you ever been in love with two people at the same time?" She wipes her tears and turns to look at him.

Andrew pauses for a moment thinking about his words.

"Yes, actually…It's not an easy position to be in"

He'd never truly opened up about what happened when he met Jeanine. Of course, he was the shallow guy who left his wife and kids for another woman and part of him felt like it was easier just to play the bad guy and let everyone think what they wanted, including his children.

Tris looks over at him, seeing what looked like regret in his eyes and it made her curious.

"What did you do?" she asks, realizing that she never thought that her father felt anything when he divorced Natalie.

"I tried to follow my heart. Not everything was as cut and dry as I thought it would be"

"Do you think you made the right decision?"

"Yes and no, I don't regret Matthew being in this world. But do I regret the pain I caused your mother, yes, I do"

"Why did you just throw us away?" Tris asks her fingers playing with the hospital blanket.

"I don't have a good answer other than it was easier to not look back," Andrew tells her honestly.

Tris doesn't say anything, she just nods her head taking in everything her father was saying.

"But when your mother forgave me, I finally felt like I could forgive myself"

"She did?" Tris raises her eyebrows in shock.

Her mother was so loving and forgiving that it shouldn't have been a surprise to her but now all the conversations she had with Natalie about letting go of what happened with Andrew made so much more sense.

"Natalie is an amazing woman, and I didn't deserve her, and I sure as hell didn't deserve her forgiveness. But she gave it to me anyway. I know I need to clean up some things that I messed up and that starts with you and Caleb"

Tris feels another tear slide down her cheek.

"So, this is weird right? Me and you having a heart to heart?" Tris says looking up at her father scrunching her nose up.

"Just a little, but I'm hoping it won't be our last"

Andrew stands up and gives her a kiss on the forehead and Tris smiles. For the first time in so many years, she feels like she and her father might be on the path to having a real relationship.