Full Summary:

The new rookie has a past nobody sees coming until too late. What happens when members of the Intelligence Unit out of Chicago show up? Will she be okay? Or is she in more danger than anyone knows? Will she be found in time?

A Lesson in Running:

They say once you get used to running, you never stop. I sure as heck got used to it, but I also wanted to stop. I hated running. Running meant that I couldn't settle down anywhere. Running meant that I could no longer have the career that I wanted. Running meant that I could never get close to anyone ever again. Running meant that I had to always keep looking over my shoulder, never feeling safe, or face the consequences of that feeling. I had been running for nearly ten years, ever since that day in the DRC (Dominican Republic of Congo). I'd been with 'Doctor's Without Borders' then. I'd met the love of my life there and we had gotten married. But he'd gone back to the states and I had stayed to help more. He said he'd always be there for me if I needed him. We stayed married, though I did know that he had relationships back in the states, he never got close to asking anyone to marry him; he stayed married to me, to keep me safe if I ever needed it.

I'd been a doctor for nearly a decade and while in the DRC, I'd run into someone who would make it his life's mission to make sure I never felt safe again. I knew he was a member of the Interhamwe; they'd been pushed across the border into the DRC from Rwanda after the war. They'd been the main threat ever since, spreading violence wherever they went. I'd managed to survive him because I was a doctor, and a very good one at that. I'd saved one of his men after they'd been shot by the Rebels. After the incident at the clinic, he had an eye out for me wherever I went. When I decided to leave the DRC and head home to the states, well that's where all the trouble began.

I learned later, after getting back to the states that he had somehow secured a visa to get into the states. The first time I saw him, I was working at a small rural hospital. He'd come in with an injury to his arm that he got when he was working on a car he owned. He knew that I saw him. He knew I knew who he was and that he was wanted in the DRC for 'War Crimes'. I left the clinic that day, made sure my boss knew that I was leaving because I was being stalked. My boss made sure I got my last paycheck and then some to help me get out of the state. I headed for Chicago, because that's where my husband was working, in one of the best hospitals. But instead of going to work at the hospital, I went into the Fire Academy. I was thinking that if I started a new career then maybe he wouldn't be able to find me. And it worked, for a little while.

My husband did eventually find out that I was working at Firehouse 51 because we had to help bring members of an explosion into the ER. When he saw me, he was surprised to say the least. When he learned that I had quit being a doctor, he wanted to know why. I told him that I would tell him at a later date. That later date came when he walked into the firehouse the next day wanting an explanation. I didn't want to give him one with everyone looking, but my feelings at the time meant nothing. He wanted answers and revealed that I was a quadruple-board certified surgeon to everyone in the room. That peeked everyone's interest and they also wanted to know why I wasn't in a hospital doing the most good.

So I had to tell him and subsequently everyone at the firehouse that I was being stalked by a member of the Interhamwe who was wanted back in the DRC as well as Rwanda for 'War Crimes'. I hadn't gone back into the hospital because I didn't want him finding me again. And the cops hadn't seemed to want to help me when I reported it before I fled from my rural hospital in Alabama. Chief Boden immediately put a call in to the Intelligence Unit out of District 21. All showed up to learn my side of the story. They thought it was best to stay out of the hospital for now and continue with my Firefighting duties. I tended to agree because that's the reason I didn't go back to the hospital to begin with. I knew what he would do, even if it was just one person doing the hurting.

I survived in Chicago without him finding me for nearly three years. I stayed at Firehouse 51 the whole time but managed to work myself up to being a Lieutenant within the fire department. But then, I was on the run once again. By the time my 'stalker' had found me in Chicago, Connor had left once again after the death of his father. He told me he was going to be a traveling doctor, help where he could and get as many 'Hybrid Operating Rooms' into as many hospitals as he could. I told him that I would join him as soon as my stalker was caught he understood. We kept in contact through a gaming app that we both played so that my stalker wouldn't find out where I would be traveling to if I ever left Chicago.

Almost three years to the date of fleeing Alabama for Chicago, my stalker showed up. He walked into 51 with a little girl and a young woman. The little girls said she'd always seen firetrucks speeding towards fires but had never seen one up close. Her father and mother had brought her to the firehouse to see one because she was going to be a firefighter when she grew up to be a big girl. When he saw me and I saw him, my face fell from the smile I'd had on all morning. Lt. Severide saw the look on my face and Lt. Herman, who'd seen it as well, moved the family out to look at the fire trucks. I left the kitchen and headed straight for my locker. I grabbed my backpack and was shoving things into it when Severide and his fiancé Stella Kid walked into the locker room with Chief Boden.

They told me the guy and his family had left but Stella had called the cops. They could trace him as long as he stayed in sight but couldn't really do anything because he had never really harmed me. Det. Upton & Halstead showed up. We all knew that this day was coming. Chief Boden handed over a 'Letter of Recommendation' to which I told him thank you. He said to call if I needed anything. The Detectives were going to follow me to my home and make sure I was able to collect everything before leaving the city. I messaged Connor and told him that the day we were dreading had finally showed up and that I was leaving the state for better pastures, or so to say. My belongings were packed into the travel camping trailer that I owned and then I gave the keys to Det. Halstead and told him that if he knew anyone that needed a place to rent, to rent it to them. He asked how much I wanted in rent and I gave a price of $2,400. I told him that Brett & Stella both had my 'Renmo' accounts as friends and he just needed to give them the money through Renmo* and they'd get it to me.

They understood the implications of that. They told me the guy worked during the day at a mechanic shop and that they would make sure he couldn't leave until I was far away from the city and state. I'd text them when I was in the next state. And I told them that I would call Sg.t Voight when I got to where I was going. They said that they would let Voight know so that he could expect the call. I got into my truck and made sure the lights on the trailer were working and then pulled out of the driveway. I headed west, as far west as I possibly could. I had all of my medical degrees as well as my firefighting degrees and equipment with me. Chief Boden's 'Letter of Recommendation' was in the center console. I'd have to get used to this 'running' but that didn't mean that I had to like it. This was the second time this guy had ruined my life and I had to start over.

Luckily for me, I knew that Connor was in Los Angeles right now working at 'Douglas Shaw Memorial Hospital'. At least I would have someone in LA when I got there and he could keep me safe up to a point, well at least until I figured out what my next job would be. Because I knew that I couldn't be a doctor or a firefighter, not now that my stalker new that I had changed jobs. Hopefully he wouldn't find me in my new line of work. I prayed that I could stay in this new job path just long enough for my stalker to get caught…

More to come in next chapter…

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*If you can't tell, 'Renmo' is the exact thing that starts with a 'V' but didn't want to get in trouble with using the name.*