Chapter V: Suspicious Minds

A/N: I was on a roll, just needed to find the time to type it up. We get to see some new to the story (but not to show canon) characters this chapter. I hope I got them right.

On his way out of the frigid November air, Hank knew that his niece was getting suspicious of his now near constant presence at the hospital, attempting to talk Doctor Halstead into working with them. No matter what name she carried, Sabrina was more Voight than Byrne, so of course she was suspicious. Most of the Byrnes, barring Iain and a few others, were idiots.

"You're up to something, I can tell."

"You know I can't tell you what it is sweetheart," he answered his niece.

"That pretty much confirms my suspicions Uncle Hank," she emphasized before saying "Be careful and vaya con Dios."

Hank watched his niece give a strange look to a blonde surgeon, Doctor Bekkar he thought her name was.

Sabrina had mentioned that the woman didn't seem to like her, despite having barely spoken.

He had about a 95% idea as to why, and hoped Sabrina brought her A game for what was likely going to be the biggest test of her whatever the hell it was with Connor.

Hank knew a master manipulator when he saw one, being one himself. And this one saw Sabrina as a threat.

If that blonde bruja harms Sabrina in any way, I'll make her wish she'd never been born!

Ava watched the new neurosurgeon with narrowed eyes. Byrne was good. She was very good at what she did otherwise she wouldn't be here or had worked at Mayo Phoenix.

She would be the perfect co-worker were it not for her abnormally close relationship with Connor. She'd also heard that they'd known each other since they were 12, for a lifetime.

And they were definitely into each other. But neither were aware of the other's feelings.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." It was Sergeant Voight.

"Do what?"

"Bust up their friendship. Or whatever it is. Many have tried, none have succeeded.

We'll have to see about that won't we?

Whilst Sabrina was doing paperwork for a grant, she wondered just what the female CT surgeon's problem with her was.

A serious stick up her ass is what it is, part of her mind said.

They'd tried one upping each other, but beyond that Sabrina had to think. The most frequent times she got the dirty looks was when...

She was around Connor.

Bekkar saw her as a romantic threat. As that was never a part of her friendship with him, Sabrina put it from her mind.

Her traitorous mind whispered "She's only after one thing!"

She'd been having a harder time ignoring that voice of late.

"Look boss, I'm fine. I don't need a checkup," Iain pled with his lieutenant with bruises all over his body from falling down a flight of stairs in a burning building.

A familiar voice cut through with "Sit down, shut up and listen to your lieutenant!" Sabrina was all business at the moment.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I'm your emergency contact, genius," his cousin replied noticing his lieutenant. Sabrina was like every other female when it came to Kelly Severide. "I don't think I've caught your name just yet."

"Kelly Severide. Byrne never mentioned having a knockout for a cousin!"

As they flirted a bit, Iain noticed that a certain friend of Sabrina's was glaring at Severide with twitching hands.

Iain had known for a long time that Connor and his lieutenant didn't get along well. Despite the fact that they had a few things in common, namely difficult relationships with their fathers. Though his CO's relationship with his now dead father was positively warm and fuzzy by comparison.

"Doctor Byrne may I have a word with you for a moment?" Connor asked.

"Of course. Iain behave or you'll get sedated," she gave that damn firefighter a wink.

Once out of earshot he said, "Sabrina you are aware that he goes through a lot of women?"

"Connor Rhodes, are you defending my honor? And you can be one to talk about going through women," Sabrina teased.

Blushing, he answered "I just want you to know what you're getting yourself into with him."

"I can handle a cocky firefighter. I can handle a cocky police sergeant, lawyer, and tech genius. I handle a cocky cardiothoracic surgeon nearly every day of the week," Sabrina wiggled her eyebrows.

As she walked back to her cousin Sabrina turned around and asked, "You're not jealous are you?"

"Of course not. Why would I be?"

"Thought so. I have to go back to Iain. See you later, my friend."

It was definitely something else roiling around in his gut, when he saw her talk with Severide. Anything but jealousy, because that would mean...

Back to work.

Doctor Lanik had never thought that there could be a surgeon who was as much of a pain in the ass as Connor Rhodes. He'd been wrong in the form of Sabrina Byrne, the new head of neurosurgery. He'd have preferred Abrams in that role. She was just as bad if not worse than Rhodes at some times!

The fact that the two were close friends made things all the worse, as Byrne had quickly acquired Rhodes's lack of respect for his authority.

Friends. That was what the two supposedly were. However, contrary to Doctors Byrne and Rhodes, Lanik was no idiot. Yes there was friendship, but there was a whole lot more going on than either of them obviously cared to admit to. He knew that others could see it but had said nothing, since it did not seem to affect their work at the hospital.

James wondered if it could be manipulated into causing them trouble.

It had been another busy day. The past two months had been smooth sailing for Sabrina and Monica at the hospital. No real issues beyond some people being angry about Sabrina's presence for things beyond her control, and one of them was angry at Sabrina for non work related reasons.

Her friendship with Connor, Felix, and Lucas was stronger than ever. It was as if the past 11 years had not gone by. It was as if the distance hadn't mattered.

But Sabrina had forgotten that November, despite it being her birthday month, was usually a bad month for her outside of that.

A/N 2: I was extremely nervous about writing Bekkar. I don't like the character (for obvious reasons) but I still wanted to write her well. I did my best with Severide, hope I wrote him well too. Looking forward to seeing what you all think! SSD