[I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update this! I have had a crazy month with a lot of uni work due in and exams to be done. But here is this chapter, and I hope you enjoy!]


Casey looked over at Shay, and rolled his eyes as he checked the time on his watch once again.

'How long does it take for him to grab his jacket and walk out the door?'

Shay glanced up from the book she was reading and grinned.

'Why do you think I brought a book with me? He's gotta make sure he looks all nice and pretty before he leaves the apartment. Just blast the horn, that usually gets him moving.'

Casey shook his head, grinning as he pressed down on the horn. A few seconds later Severide emerged from the building with his jacket hanging off one arm, his shoe-laces undone and his bag half open. Shay rolled down the window of Casey's truck, laughing as Severide tripped slightly as he walked towards the vehicle.

'Right on time, I was about to tell Casey to just leave your ass behind. What took you so long? Couldn't style your hair right or something?'

Severide opened the door and slid into the seat beside Shay.

'Ha-ha, no actually. I overslept and then couldn't find my phone.'

Casey started the engine, and pulled away from the parking space outside their apartment.

'You know if this is gonna be a regular thing, maybe I will only offer Shay a lift. At least that way we will actually get to work more than a minute before shift starts.'

Severide huffed and dumped his bag into Shay's lap as he bent down to do up his shoe-laces.

'Yeah, well if she hadn't taken forever in the shower this morning maybe I would have been able to get ready a bit faster.'

Casey grinned and glanced at Shay, who shook her head and threw Severide's bag back at him.

'Hey, you snooze you lose. If you want the bathroom first then maybe don't get up only half an hour before we have to leave.'


'Hey, look who's back!'

Casey walked into the common room to a flurry of movement as everyone stood up to greet him. Shay looked over, happy to see Casey smiling genuinely for the first time in weeks.

'Aw look Casey, they actually missed you.'

Casey grinned back, before making his way over to grab some breakfast.

'Na, they're just trying to get on my good side so I don't drill them as hard today. That's your goal, right Otis.'

Otis shook his head, eyes glinting as he turned his chair around to face Casey.

'I am offended that you think so little of us, can't we just be happy to have our Lieutenant back.'

Casey snorted as he put his plate on the table.

'Nope, you've got some sort of ulterior motive here. You know, even if I'm on light duty that doesn't mean I'm gonna go easy on you. I wanna see how sloppy you've all gotten.'

The guys on Truck groaned at this, and Severide shared a look with Shay as Casey turned around to get coffee, relieved that he was joking around and looking a lot more relaxed than he had for weeks. Casey walked back to the table with his coffee and raised his eyebrows at Otis, who was sat at the head of the table eating. Casey cleared his throat and everyone sat at the table grinned as they realised where Otis was sat. Otis looked up, frowning slightly before seeing Casey and leaping out of the seat quickly. Casey shook his head, chuckling to himself as he sat at the table and listened to the conversations taking place around him. He looked over at Herrmann, who smiled and nodded towards him. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as he thought it was going to be.


3 weeks later

'Okay let's go again. Mills, Mouch, swap with Otis and Cruz.'

Casey grinned, as his guys groaned and shuffled towards the ladders, setting up the drill again. Herrmann walked over and nudged Casey with his shoulder.

'Must be nice being able to boss us about and not having to lift a finger.'

Casey laughed and glanced up from his clipboard, swinging it towards Herrmann who jumped out of the way.

'You have no idea! I guess falling 3 stories into a basement has its perks.'

Herrmann grinned, before going silent for a minute, looking like he wanted to say something. Casey looked up again, and raised an eyebrow at Herrmann.

'Got something to say Herrmann?'

Herrmann opened his mouth, pausing before deciding to speak.

'Severide said your doctor's appointment is in a few days. Was just wondering how you were feeling about it.'

Casey froze while in the process of writing something on his clipboard, and frowned slightly before looking back at Herrmann.

'Yup, on Tuesday. Shift is next day so I'm hoping I'll be cleared for duty. We'll see how it goes I guess.'

Herrmann moved towards Casey and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing reassuringly.

'Ah, you're gonna be fine. You'll pass with flying colours and be running into burning buildings again in no time.'

Casey smiled at Herrmann, and slapped him on the back.

'Thanks Herrmann. Now go, don't think chatting with me will get you out of this drill, you're next to be timed.'

Herrmann chuckled, before making his way over to the others, where Otis and Cruz were wrestling over something as Mouch and Mills watched on in amusement.


Shay walked out of her room, looking down at her phone as she made her way towards the kitchen. As she rounded the corner Severide knocked into her, sending her phone flying across the room.

'For crying out loud Kelly, for the last time can you just sit down and stop pacing. You walking laps around the kitchen isn't gonna help Casey get cleared for duty you know.'

Severide scowled as he picked Shay's phone up off of the floor and handed it back to her.

'Yeah, well he seemed so nervous this morning. And you remember what happened after the last doctor's appointment. I mean he seems back to normal now, and he's so much more relaxed but I think if he doesn't pass this time it might break him… He should have been back by now but he's not…'

Shay sighed, and shook her head slightly at her roommate who was still rambling on about Casey.

'Hey, calm down! I swear you're more worked up about it than he is. There's no point overthinking it, or worrying about it. We don't know how its gonna go, we just need to be ready for when he does get back to support him whatever the outcome was. And I have a good feeling this time. I think he'll be fine.'

Severide took a deep breath and nodded, before going over to the couch and sitting down. As Shay made her way over to the fridge to see what there was in the way of food, she heard the sound of the door opening, and almost laughed as she saw Severide shoot to his feet and almost trip over the corner of the coffee table. Both were silent, and watched Casey carefully as he hung his coat up and placed his keys and wallet on the table next to the door before slowly turning to face them. There was a few seconds of silence, before Casey's face broke out into a big smile and he let out a short laugh.

'I'm cleared for active duty!'


Casey walked into his office, and sighed when he saw the stack of paperwork on his desk. While he had been back for three weeks on light duty he still hadn't managed to get caught up on the paperwork he missed while he was off. He shook his head slightly as he sat down, realising that now he could finally go out on calls again he would have even less time to finish it all off. There was a knock at his door, and he looked up to see Boden standing in the doorway grinning widely.

'So, how does it feel to be cleared for duty?'

Casey smiled, and sat back in his chair.

'Feels pretty good Chief, I definitely missed it.'

Boden nodded, and leant against the doorframe.

'You feel ready? You don't have to go into any burning buildings straight away if you don't feel up to it. Ease yourself back into it.'

Casey was quiet for a minute, and Boden was pretty sure he was going to brush off this offer, after having waited weeks to be cleared.

'Na, I'm good chief. I was given the all clear and I'm definitely ready to go.'

Boden grinned, before patting his Lieutenant on the shoulder and walking out of the office. Casey smiled to himself, took a sip of his coffee and grabbed the folder on top of the pile of paperwork.


'Hey Lieutenant, lunch is ready when you want it.'

Casey glanced up at Cruz and nodded at him. It had been a quiet shift so far, with only ambo getting a call and so he'd managed to get a good chunk of paperwork done.

'Great, thanks Cruz, I'll be out in a minute.'

Cruz smiled and walked back towards the common room. Casey stood up, stretching as he grabbed his jacket and empty coffee mug and followed him into the other room. He had just sat down at the table when the bells went off.

'…Truck 81, Squad 3, Engine 51, Ambulance 61, Battalion 25, structure fire…'

Everyone groaned, as they stood up swiftly and made their way towards their rigs. Mouch shook his head as he jogged towards the truck.

'Typical, just as we're about to eat.'

Casey grinned, as he pulled on his turnout gear and hopped into the front of the truck. He felt the rush of adrenaline he usually got when on the way to a call, and realised just how much he had missed this. As they pulled out of the station with the sirens and lights on, Otis spoke up from the back of the truck.

'Lieutenant, you sure you're gonna remember what you're doing… I mean you've been drilling us so much recently you might have forgotten how to do it yourself…'

Casey chuckled as he spun around in his chair.

'Yeah I remember what I'm doing. I'd think about your next words carefully Otis, unless you want to clean the showers when we get back'


Casey jumped out of the truck and made his way over to Severide and Boden. They looked at the warehouse in front of them, which was boarded up and looked old and run down. Boden grabbed his radio and turned to face him men.

'Alright, I'm seeing smoke but no fire at the moment. It looks abandoned but lets get a team inside for a primary search. Casey, Severide, I want a quick search of the building to see if anyone is inside, and try to locate the fire.'

Casey and Severide nodded and walked towards the others.

'Okay, Casey squad will go right, you guys go left.'

'Copy that Severide. Let's go 81.'

Casey walked towards the building and Severide followed him in, catching Shay's eyes and nodding at her.

'I got him.'

Shay nodded and smiled, knowing they could take care of themselves.


'Casey, Severide, report. What do you see in there?'

Casey made his way further into the warehouse, having split up with his crew to cover more ground. Severide's voice came over the radio.

'Nothing so far Chief.'

Casey walked towards a door leading to what looked like a small office.

'Seems to be more smoke where I am Chief, might be getting closer to where the fire is.'

'Copy that Casey.'

Casey approached the door and tried the handle, but the door didn't budge. There was definitely more smoke coming from this room. He turned around, raised his foot and kicked open the door. The room was smoky, and Casey stepped into the doorway and squinted into the room. There was a table and a chair that he could make out but before he was able to walk into the room further he heard a click and felt something metal being pressed into the side of his head.

'Don't move.'