Kelly smirked as he walked out of his room. He had been surprised to find AnnaBeth gone when he woke up. But there she was dancing around his kitchen in one of his t-shirts, singing along with the radio.
"What the hell are you listening to?" He asked making her jump as he leant against the kitchen counter.
"You scared me half to death" She said placing a hand on her heart "That's Sugaland, and before you start I have enough with Chili not letting me listen to country music at work"
"I don't blame her" He grinned "But I can take it for a morning I guess"
"You seem like you're in a better mood" She told him as she poured him a cup of coffee.
"I had a good night in the end" He said taking in the amazing smell that was wafting out of his oven "You know you didn't have to cook"
"Well I like to" She pointed out "And Herrmann lost a bet with Gabby so he's on cooking duty this shift so I thought it would be better to eat before shift"
Kelly had survived Herrmann's cooking, when he kept it simple, he did ok. But he wouldn't pass up AnnaBeth's cooking for a grilled cheese.
"I need to head off early" He told her apologetically "I've got a stop to make before work"
"Then it's a good job I made it to go" She said as she finished her coffee and switched off the oven.
Kelly had thought a lot about what AnnaBeth had said, and Casey asking if he had even checked out Rice's story. He had worked with Otis for a long time, it wouldn't hurt to go to the shop and just ask if Scott had brought in a faulty mask. If he had then they could all move on, and if he hadn't then there were bigger problems he needed to deal with.
AnnaBeth walked over to Connie's desk with a smile on her face as she handed her a new romance novel, she had picked up for her.
"Why thank you AB" Connie said as she looked over the back cover.
"Oh, it's a must read" She told her.
She furrowed her brow as she saw Scott Rice stood in Chief Boden's office a long with Kelly.
"What's going on there?" She asked nodding towards the office.
Connie just shrugged. Before she could reply Scott left the office leaving the door open behind him. He stormed out so fast without so much as a smile or a glance back. She knew it meant it had to be bad news. She offered a small smile to Chief Boden as he walked out to head to the common room.
"One second Connie" She said as Connie waved her off and got back to work.
Kelly didn't look like he was ready to go and face everyone just yet.
"I know whatever you did was the right thing" She told him.
"I know, he wasn't ready to come back" He sighed "It still doesn't feel good though"
"You're a good friend" She reassured him "But here you need to be a good leader first and you do that"
AnnaBeth looked up as the bells went calling for all units to a warehouse fire. Experience so far had taught her it was going to be a bad call.
They walked out to the apparatus floor together.
"Stay safe" She told him as she walked over to the ambulance jumping into the driver's seat.
The fire was raging when they got to the warehouse. Squad 3 had gone in to try and reach two firefighters who hadn't made it back out. Chief Boden was covering for Casey and had taken truck to find another way in to reach the trapped civilians.
She knew it was what they did but she hated watching the people she cared about running into a burning building. But they all had a job to do. She had to push her anxiety aside when Cruz and Capp came back outside with the two firefighters.
She got to work doing what she could. She knew Chief had said 2 minutes only and she was aware that time had already passed as she put the firefighter in her care on oxygen.
She bit her lip as she heard Gabby over the radio telling Chief Boden she was trapped and out of oxygen.
"Everyone stop what you're doing" Chief Boden said, "No matter what, no one from 51 goes back into that building, understood?"
"Understood Chief" Mouch nodded.
"Chief" Cruz called as Boden picked up two oxygen tanks and ran into the building.
Chili squeezed her hand as they waited hesitantly for an update. She thought Cruz was going to punch Chief Tiberg in the face when he ordered the line to be cut and the water cannons on. It honestly felt like one of the longest calls of her life. She could have collapsed as a wave of relief hit her watching Chief Boden, Kelly and Gabby run out of that building. It had been too close a call.
She wrapped her arms around Gabby squeezing her tightly.
"AB I can't breathe" Gabby told her.
"Oh my god let me…" She started taking a step back.
"No, you were just squeezing me too tight" Gabby told her with a small smile.
"Well you scared the hell out of me" She exclaimed.
"I can tell" Gabby grinned "What happened to H E double hockey sticks"
"Very funny" She said smacking her friends arm playfully.
"I'm ok" Gabby told her a little more seriously "If it wasn't for Severide I don't know…"
Annabeth walked over to him and threw her arms around him. They didn't usually show any affection at work. But he could have died in there and he had saved her best friend. She just didn't care.
"Could you maybe go one shift without almost dying?" She asked looking up at him.
"You weren't worried, were you?" He teased trying to lighten the mood.
"Yes, I was" She admitted.
"I'm ok" He reassured her putting his arms back around her.