After leaving Matt and Sonny in his office Kelly headed straight for the common room.
"Hey Severide, everything alright?" Asked a worried Herman as he entered the busy room. Hermann had suspected for a while that something was going on with Kelly and he was pretty sure it involved Matt, the two younger firefighters were like sons to him and he hated seeing them in pain. Therefore he desperately wanted to know what was going on so he could offer his assistance.
"Actually that's why I'm here" informed Kelly as he joined Hermann and Mouch at the table, everyone else in the room either knew Sonny had been found or had joined fifty one after the boys disappearance.
"Over two weeks ago I got a call from detective Warner" started Kelly and instantly the two men froze, they both remembered that name from the early days of Sonny's disappearance.
"Is he-" Herman began to ask shakily but Kelly cut him off before he could finish his horrible question. Kelly didn't want to prolong the man's pain.
"They found him alive, Sonny's Alive "
Mouch sighed in relief while Hermann stared at Kelly in shock. He couldn't believe after all this time they'd found Sonny, after a year passed Hermann believed the poor little boy was dead.
"He's alright?" Asked Mouch fearing what Sonny may have gone through during the past ten years.
"Physically he's ok, we've ran into some... issues but all things considered he's doing good" explained Kelly. When the two men sent him confused looks Kelly started to elaborate,
"Uh you see Sonny practically spent the last ten years isolated from the rest of the world and as a result he doesn't cope to well with lots of people" , Kelly felt conflicted as he continued to disclose more information about Sonny. He knew the teen would feel embarrassed or as if his privacy had been violated but if he was going to visit fifty one again they needed to know what to expect, he didn't want them to be caught off guard by Sonny's panic like they were.
"W-what, what happened? How'd they find him?" Stammered Herman as Kelly's words began to sink in.
"That's um harder to explain"
Meanwhile Matt was studying his son carefully as he contemplated what to do, despite the boy's best efforts Matt could still see the tear tracks staining Sonny's face. Matt wished he could pull the teen back into a hug but they were still at the stage where Sonny only felt comfortable when he initiated contact. After a few minutes Matt jumped off the bed and knelt down onto the floor, Sonny watched in confusion as Matt began searching for something under the bed. All of the sudden Matt let out a cheer of victory before rising to his feet with a rectangular box clasped in his hands.
"Why don't we play a game to pass the time?" Suggested Matt placing the box down on the bed, he couldn't believe he'd actually found it, looking for it had been a long shot. Matt remembered Kelly hiding it there years ago, he was surprised the other firefighter hadn't thrown it out.
"Have you ever played monopoly before?" Asked Matt gently, he doubted the boy had played any sort of board game before. The teen confirmed Matt's assumption when he shook his head as he eyed the game with curiosity sparkling in his eyes.
"That's ok I'll explain the rules as we go along, you'll pick it up in no time" comforted Matt as he began setting the board up on the bed. As Sonny sat crossed legged opposite Matt on the bed he glanced down at the colourful board, his blood ran cold when his eyes landed on the black letters printed all over the board.
"Don't worry it's not as complicated as it looks" reassured Matt before showing him a small collection of tiny metal figures. Hesitantly Sonny picked up the Scottie dog causing Matt to smile, Matt then picked up the racing car before putting the rest of the figures back in the box.
Next Matt rolled a pair of dice and moved the metal car as he narrated his actions. By his third go Sonny was confident he could stumble his way through the game without Matt ever knowing he couldn't read. Initially buying properties had been a daunting task but he quickly realised all he had to do was give Matt the fake dollar bill that matched the number displayed on the property he landed on, if he couldn't find a match he didn't buy it. Any mistakes Sonny made he blamed on the fact he'd never played before. His tactics had been working until he landed on a strange space with a question mark printed on it,
"Ah you need to take a chance card" announced Matt,
"A what?" Stammered Sonny feeling bile rise in his throat as he noticed two stacks of cards on the board, he hadn't seen them before because he'd been to focused on getting the money part right.
"Take one from the top and then read out what it says" instructed Matt gently completely oblivious to the fear engulfing Sonny.
"Ok" Sonny gulped as he shakily picked up a card and began studying it intently. The cartoon man beside the writing did nothing to ease his confusion, he tried desperately to understand the words but it was no use. He continued to stare at the card as he tried to figure out what to do, he'd had a lot of fun with Matt over the past week he wasn't ready for it to end, he wasn't ready to be left behind again. Of course he knew they would eventually find out when he started school but he thought he had more time; neither of the men has mentioned school recently, he thought he had at least another week. He looked desperately at the door hoping Kelly would appear but there was no sign of the man.
"Is everything ok Sonny?" questioned Matt in a soft voice which only increased Sonny's distress. He liked the way Matt smiled at him and his voice was always full of kindness, he didn't want to be introduced to Matt's bad side.
"Huh yeah it's just, I uh I" stuttered sonny realising he had no other choice than to confess.
"Oh god not monopoly" interrupted a loud voice, Sonny exhaled in relief as he turned around to see Kelly stood in the doorway. Where as Matt tried to hide his frown as he looked at Severide, he was pretty Sonny was about to tell him something before Kelly's appearance but now the teen had clammed up.
"How did they take the news?" Asked Matt accepting that Sonny wasn't going to open up yet.
"Good, they want to see you and sonny but they understand you both need time and space" explained Kelly, instantly Matt knew that "they" really meant Hermann. The older man had been greatly affected by both of the blonde's disappearance, Matt was like a son to Hermann and consequently Hermann has been a surrogate grandfather to Sonny. Before the young boy went missing Cindy regularly looked after Sonny, she loved him as if he was one of her own. Sonny's disappearance had left her in a very bad way, it took her a very long time to accept what had happened and begin move on with her life, but even then the sweet little boy was never forgotten.
When the room fell into silence Sonny shifted awkwardly on the bed, he needed to get out of the small suffocating room before Matt suggested finishing the game.
"Can we go find Tuesday and Stella?" Asked Sonny, the thought of entering a room full of people terrified him but he was willing to do anything to avoid exposing his shameful secret, he wasn't ready to loose Matt's and Kelly's affection.
"Yeah ok" agreed Kelly suspiciously , he could tell that he'd just interrupted something but as he glanced at Matt the blonde shook his head which Kelly knew was his way of say he'd explain later.
"Come on Sonny, we'll take this home" announced Matt as he quickly put the game away. Matt hated the way Sonny nodded weakly in response, he could tell something had been bothering the blonde for most of the game. But despite not wanting to cause the boy any more distress he needed to know what had upset his son so he could address it; Sonny would never heal if they avoided every problem that arose.
Sonny walked slowly towards the common room but as soon as his eyes landed on Tuesday sat beside Stella his pace sped up.
"Hey Sonny" greeted Kidd as the boy knelt down next to the sleeping canine, the teen in front of her was a far cry from the upset kid who refused to get down off the kitchen table a week ago.
"Hi Stella " replied the boy softly, he could tell everyone around him was trying their best not to look at him but it only made him feel more self conscious.
"So what do you think of fifty one?" Questioned Kidd in a cheerful way.
"Uh" mumbled the boy frowning at her slightly, when Kidd's own smile began to fall a cheesy grin broke out on Sonny's face. He chuckled slightly as Kidd realised he was pulling her leg.
"You were right it's a pretty awesome place" the boy smiled.
"Yeah it is" agreed Kidd, it was wonderful seeing the boy out and about but she could tell he was still on edge.
"Kelly told me he showed you around squad engine, how would you like to see Truck?" Offered Kidd knowing the boy would appreciate the excuse to escape the common room.
"Yes please" he replied eagerly.
"Wow, he's just like you Matt" gasped Hermann as Sonny disappeared with Stella and Tuesday,
"Maybe he's a clone" Otis joked immediately regretting it but when Matt smiled softly relief washed over him.
"Nah, he's not boring enough" responded Kelly, who then let out a surprises Yelp as Matt punched him gently in the shoulder
"But seriously in personality he bares a lot of similarities to Hallie, he's an amazing kid" admitted Kelly before continuing in a somber tone,
"He's Just been through a lot".
"Ready to go home Sonny?" asked Matt walking towards Sonny and Kidd, they'd been at fifty one for a few hours now and Sonny had mostly only spoke to Matt, Kelly and Stella but no one was surprised. Matt wasn't naive he had known even before they arrived that it would probably take a few more trips before Sonny felt confident enough to speak to anyone else. The blonde smiled at matt and flashed him a grateful smile,he felt incredibly tired and he just wanted to retreat home. They waved their goodbyes to everyone and ambled back towards Kelly's car. The bright smile that had been lighting up Sonny's face quickly disappeared when Matt placed something next to him on the backseat, it appeared that Matt was keeping his promise of continuing their game of monopoly. Sonny breathed in shakily, he didn't want to loose Matt and Kelly too.