Hey there. The conflict grows and Sev has some thoughts about it. Thank you as always for reading. I hope you all had a fun weekend!

For a minute, Boden thought Firehouse 51 was under control but then Benny Severide had to visit and throw a wrench in the works.

Like most shifts, this one started off quiet enough. The men talking shit while they stowed gear in their lockers and caught up. Mills ranged around him in wide arching circles, loyal to the memory of his father in a way that Boden could respect. He was following Severide around like a lost puppy while Casey looked by turns exasperated and mulish. Casey…

Boden was concerned about Casey. He said he was fine but Boden was sure that he wasn't. That something untoward had occurred and he was holding it in. The men knew, that much he could tell. They looked uncomfortable with their knowledge and Corinne, who could be so plugged into the gossip mill, just gave him blank irritated stares when he asked if she knew what was going on. She did. They both knew she did. Her unwillingness to share information was a punishment of some kind. He needed to figure out what and why fast.

"Sir? You wanted to see me?"

Boden looked up to find Hermann standing in his office doorway like a kid called to the principal's office. He waved Hermann into a seat after telling him to close the door and Boden patently ignored the long gulp he heard the other man make. Boden didn't like to think of himself as an unreasonable man but it did well to instill a little fear and respect in subordinates. Too familiar an approach could lead to the expectation of leniency. Something Boden could not abide as a matter of form. He was still a military man. His code of ethics and general disposition reflected this. And though his days of shit-talking and roughhousing with the guys was generally speaking, over, he was not one to stand on ceremony needlessly.

"Now," Boden relaxed into his chair as he spoke. Gave the certain semblance of calm and indifference that usually preceded an inquisition and Hermann whispered uh oh while Boden tried not to smile. "Tell me what's going on with Lieutenant Casey".

"Casey?" Hermann echoed, his voice high-pitched and anxious. "I don't know what- "

"Stow it. I know my men. I know you know. Tell me something"

"It's not my place sir" Hermann murmured. His face was apologetic. He was the dutiful firefighter, concern painted wide on his weathered countenance. Blue eyes clear. He wasn't lying to his Battalion Chief and Boden knew it. He let out a small inaudible sigh and cast his pen down on the desktop.

"What can you tell me. Anything?"

"That he's hurt and confused. Nothing time won't fix sir."

Hmm. Boden steepled his fingers in front of his mouth and stared long and hard at Hermann while he pondered what he had not learned. Everything Hermann said jived with his own perceptions of the situation. Casey was abrupt and impatient where usually he was the calm and rational pillar of integrity in a hotbed of adrenaline junkies. He wasn't doing the job for glory or wild stories. Casey was a man who built things with his hands. Solid. Steady. Boden suspected part of why Casey did construction work was to rebuild what was once destroyed by fire. They did a lot of damage while saving people and left a lot of trauma in their wake. A crack in the foundation of Casey's personality meant something had truly shook him.

"If you don't mind my saying sir…" Hermann trailed off as Boden gave him a look like he was being absurd. Why was everything like pulling teeth with his men? As soon as they had an awkward problem, they dove for cover faster than any civilian. Boden found it vastly annoying while acknowledging, quite privately, that he was sometimes guilty of the same infraction. Herman pushed forward, conscious that he was evading some of the truth but it really was none of his, or Chief's business. "Severide. He and Casey about the whole Andy thing…"

So that was part of the issue. Boden had never directly addressed either man's grief after the initial shock and horror. But a line of duty death was a serious thing. Awful though it might sound, an LODD was more painful than any of the rescues turned recoveries from one second to the next at any job on any shift. That was your brother, your friend who suffered a terrifying death and there was no doubt in Boden's mind that with his knowledge of fire, Andy's death had been gruesome.

"Is the arguing serious?"

"Absolutely. They're just hiding it better. Looks like Casey has a bruised jaw"

Now that was truly alarming. Both Casey and Severide were less than perfect at subterfuge. Self-deceit? Yes, without question. They said they were fine when an injury plagued them for months. Went off to maim dirty cops with their halligans instead of trusting the law. But to know that the anger was so deeply entrenched that they sought to limit his knowledge of it in the firehouse….

"Is that it? That's all you can give me?"

Ultimately, nothing Hermann said mattered more than getting the truth from the source. It was a delicate situation. A friendship had fractured under the weight of a colleague's death. Each man's loyalty to Andy's memory was leading them down a path of isolation, a situation that did not bode well for either lieutenant. They were young to have gained their positions, and still had a lot to learn. Whether they admitted it or not was another matter entirely.

A knock at his office door had Boden and Hermann turning their heads to Connie.

"Benny Severide is here to see you Chief"

Boden's face immediately flattened.

Casey caught up with her in the laundry room, pulling sheets out of the dryer to fold. Casey watched her for a minute, disinclined to reveal himself. Gabi was humming tunelessly. It was a remarkably quiet moment for such a bright and vibrant personality. To him. Gabi sometimes existed in her tough girl schtick. In her earnest drive to push ahead and be the force of nature Casey knew so well. He hated to admit it but she looked happy. Not even just quietly content but happy. Every gesture she made had the languid quality of someone at ease with themselves and the world around them. Casey wished he was the reason for her carefree aura. Hard though it was to admit she was happy, it was worse to contemplate how far out of favour he'd fallen that he couldn't remember the last time they were as close to casual as she appeared in this moment.

"Hey"

"Hey Casey, what's up?'

She never called him Matt these days and it depressed him. He was no longer angry and she wasn't throwing a tantrum about his silence but he'd been relegated to Casey, to a coworker when he used to know nearly as much about her life as Shay. He really didn't want to spend a lot of time going over how the change had occurred. It was likely he bore some of the blame for it, bitter pill though it was to swallow. That Kelly had pulled her that much further away left him raw and shipwrecked in a world where he was isolated from those he most yearned to be close to without any way to bridge the distance. He scuffed his shoe on the floor and looked down at his hands.

"Not much, couple construction jobs to wrap up in the next week. Visited Andy's boys"

"Oh yeah? How's Heather doing?"

The conversation swam away from him, carried on a tide of sympathy for the fatherless boys and how their mother was coping. Casey detected no sarcasm, no malice or jealousy. Gabi was genuinely concerned about the Dardens in a way that her demeanour at the 4th of July cookout had not suggested. She had been scathing and fierce in her protection of Kelly, a situation that still struck him as bizarre. Cruz had described in minute detail what he knew of the whole altercation. Never mind what Heather had said when she found him. The ill-ease he felt, watching her affection play out like a movie. It was hard to take, harder still to fathom. Gabi, falling for Kelly's bullshit.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He had to ask. It'd been bottling up inside him, bothering him for so long he needed the outlet. Casey watched Gabi pause to really look at him. They'd wandered over from the laundry room to the officers' quarters. She was propped up on the doorjamb, arms folded across her chest while he sat at the desk. It was a familiar gesture made sour with her sudden caution and delicacy. Gabi had been handling him with kid gloves for so long now he actually wanted to scream. To have another fight. It was her own fault as much as his but they'd both prolonged the aftermath.

"We weren't on speaking terms. And then…" she sort of shrugged and looked at him plaintively. "You guys don't get along. Why invite more drama?"

Because I'm your friend he wanted to say. And really, he wanted to say more but speaking those particular words out loud would get him nowhere right then. Casey knew without question that he had waited too long for things to be right with Gabi. His mouth twisted down in one corner.

"You don't trust me".

"This was not about you Casey. Not even a little."

He suspected she was lying but thought it prudent not to say it. Gabi would never have even entertained the idea of Kelly if he hadn't quit the field for bad timing. But it was bad timing. It still was. His mother was awol and his sister was blaming him. Heather definitely depended on him more than she should and he was never telling Gabi about the awkward kiss, and the way Kelly had reacted to her sleepover and a hundred other small and large things he was constantly handling. Griffin was so very angry and he couldn't get through and he cared about the boy. Cared about his memories of his father and his life, and what being a firefighter mean to him quite apart from his death and absence. He understood Griffin. He'd been Griffin when his father had died. He could never say murdered, like his sister. Though it was apt. Though his mother had definitely planned to kill his father that night. Casey shook the thought away.

"I don't think you realize how bad Kelly is for you"

"Casey…"

"You didn't come to me because you knew I'd talk sense into you about what he's like."

"You act like I don't hear stories from Shay. Like I haven't been around him for years."

"Then explain to me," Casey asked with frustration grinding his teeth, "how he went from Shay's roommate to… I don't know what". Casey didn't want to say the word boyfriend though arriving together at the annual cookout was a fairly strong indicator. They'd never been more than eight feet from each other. He'd watched Gabi lean into the other man while he kissed her forehead. Seen how Kelly had held her when the fireworks went off and he was staring at her and she was staring right back. Casey looked into the eyes of his best friend. He stared at her and she stared right back, chewing her lower lip while she obviously tried to think of the best way to frame what he didn't really want to hear.

"I know you don't want to hear this but Kelly is not a mistake. I do not regret him and he has more than proven how much I matter to him"

It was quiet between them for a minute as Gabi let him process her words. She let it sink in and through while she stood over him, her eyes kind and large, a little nervous it seemed, about his opinion. She shrugged at last, and looked away. Picked up her defensive posture and leaned a shoulder in the doorjamb while he sat dumbfounded by her quiet belief in Severide. He realized Gabi wasn't gloating. She wasn't saying he'd waited too long and this was what he got for making her pine. She was confident. Certain of Kelly in a way that floored him. He didn't know what to say and Gabi picked up the slack though it tormented him to hear her say anything more.

"Casey… look, maybe we won't last. I don't know. Kelly isn't just his track record. I didn't see it at first but now that I do…" Casey watched her try to hide a smile he thought had only been his and shattered a little. She didn't say anymore about Kelly but she didn't have to. Gabi said all the right words about working on their friendship, being there for each other more and actually listening instead of yelling and he wanted to disagree. He knew that he wouldn't but some small part of him felt petty and vindictive. Kelly had swooped in on a girl yet again and walked away with her heart. But this time it was his girl, and the wrong heart and Casey felt his lips stretch painfully to accommodate the appropriate reaction. If he could give Gabi nothing else, he could do that. For now.

Hermann scampered out, relieved to no longer be under Boden's watchful gaze while Benny Severide grew baleful, crowding the doorway in his plaid cotton shirt and khakis. Benny was confused, irritated and looking for answers. Kelly had called. He hadn't picked up. He'd been out fishing but his son had left a five minute voicemail explaining in minute and excruciating detail exactly where he could stow his opinion of Henry Mills, of Peter Mills and worst of all Chief Wallace Boden and he'd fumed. Stewed for a few days in his own resentment. In his son's betrayal. The loyalty Kelly spared for his sometimes foe irritated Benny to no end. For all Wallace's self-belief, his intractable point of view on the circumstances that surrounded the night Henry Mills died and took another young firefighter with him, Benny knew he was right. Mills had been scared, had panicked and dragged another man into the smoke with him, disoriented and without cause. Anything else was conjecture based on personal opinion. He was not gifted with an overabundance of personal opinion when it came to the people around him.

"What the hell did you tell Kelly?"

"You came all the way from Kenosha to have a conversation about the son you didn't visit once while he was in the hospital for a career threatening injury?'

As retorts went, Wallace had him there. Benny was silent for a moment formulating an appropriate counter strike. "Does Kelly even know that you're here Benny?" Benny didn't respond to that inquiry either.

No, his son did not know but it was for the best in his estimation. Given the colourful language of Kelly's last voice message, a face to face meeting would probably not be wise. And anyway, if Kelly had answers for Benny's questions, he'd never get them from his wayward progeny. Kelly was more than a touch mulish when riled, just as he was. And Benny felt the pricking of his temper with every word Boden said in his calm perfunctory manner like some omnipotent god in the safety of his kingdom.

"What the hell did you say Wallace?"

Benny decided he was going to answer all of Wallace's questions with the one question that had been plaguing him the whole drive south. His son was many many things but stupid was not one of them. Gullible? Sometimes. He remained hopeful in the face of people's misdeeds far longer than was advisable. Benny knew he was responsible for the chip on Kelly's shoulder. Was responsible for more than half of what his kids got wrong and not right. He damn sure had nothing to do with Kelly getting through fire academy, no matter what the brass thought. But when your eldest born, the first baby you ever held, yells down the telephone line about hypocrisy and hiding in your own failures and maybe next time buy a clue before souring him on a fellow firefighter. Well… Benny always showed up when the accusations started flying. Call it a gift.

"I. Said. Nothing." Wallace had his hands on his hips. He enunciated each word so slowly, Benny took three angry breaths for each Boden syllable. Continued to fume. Called:

"Bullshit. We both know when push comes to shove you'll talk a blue streak to make your point heard."

"This coming from the man who thought it prudent to reveal provocative biased information about a line of duty death to a firefighter's son in the middle of a firehouse!'

"He wanted to know!"

"Not like that he didn't. You always needed to be the center of attention. It was never enough to do the job and do it well. You selfish egotistical bastard. Never mind that I loved Ingrid and you'd already-"

"If you bring up my first wife so help me God…"

"Started shacking up with Mary. How are you the paragon in this morass of-"

"Mary wasn't the wife of a subordinate!"

It was an old fight. One they'd had many times before but the feelings never faded and their voices grew louder while outside, Connie tried to cover for their drama. She banged her desk drawer open and pitched her voice deeper just so on the phone and didn't even bother listening in because she knew what was going on. She just hoped against false hope that the rest of the firehouse didn't and did the worst of things she could do. Prayed for a job to come in.

"D? Baby you back here?"

A smile broke out on Dawson's face. She couldn't help it. Kelly was so careless with his endearments around the house now it was a wonder he'd ever hidden their relationship at all. He wasn't officious but it seemed like he no longer had any filter between his mind and mouth. He was quietly demonstrative pouring her coffee and tugging her hair. She turned away from Casey to see him walking rapidly towards her, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets. Dawson frowned. It was summer and not cold. She peered up at his face.

"What's wrong?"

Dawson was conscious of Casey's gaze on her as Kelly drew closer. The blond was watching her with the squad lieutenant, a certain air of disbelief or maybe derision ranging out over the officer's quarters. She reached out. Smoothed her hand across Kelly's chest, eyes focused on her lover's face as she read the distress and anxiety in his eyes.

"Benny's here" his voice was tight and carried as much upset as she'd ever heard Kelly display in the firehouse outside arguments. Caring about her hadn't eliminated his need to be the cool bad boy lieutenant, all leather jackets and classic fast cars. She felt him lean into her hand as his gaze flicked momentarily over Casey. They still weren't on good terms and she didn't touch that landmine. Didn't feel equipped to be in the middle of their battle even as she acknowledged her new part in it.

"He didn't call?" she asked, more to distract Kelly than for conversation.

"Of course not. It's more than an hour's drive. Enough to give some kind of notice but nope! He's yelling in Boden's office and-"

"Yelling? At Boden?"

She watched Kelly's face flicker between earnest and angry. He wanted to say something to her and Dawson glanced at Casey. She was aware that he was the only reason Kelly might not be forthcoming. So she he took his hand and led him through the firehouse and out the back way past all the trucks and apparatus. She led him to his car, and sat on the hood and ignored his protests about the paint job and checked her radio was working in case of a call and said start talking because Kelly was anxious and nervous and it couldn't be about her. Not again.

He was still pulling away a little. Distant but trying. He got caught up in his thoughts and his face would be cast in stone, a cold immutable force she couldn't hope to enter. It wasn't often and he insisted it wasn't her fault and she felt safe enough with him to believe it. That this was his issue and she couldn't fix it which hurt in a way Dawson couldn't really express as Kelly paced a circle in front of her thinking, just thinking. Of all men it had to be Kelly who taught her patience. The sun was in his hair and she could see he was starting to go grey and she didn't care because his eyes were the best part of him. How he could cut through anything with a look and a twist of that mouth and ohdeargodimightlovehim and she wasn't thinking it. Loving him did not help her in their current situation: his face flashing between emotions, no words spoken.

"Sev."

"I called him after our talk in the locker room"

Dawson thought about that for a minute. She should have known something was up when he took it so calmly and quietly. Kelly was laid-back but never that chill when it came to his dad. His dad who was several feet away and she was dating his son. Dawson sincerely hoped Kelly didn't want to do the meet and greet.

"I thought you weren't mad..."

"Not at you."

He gave her a look somewhere between hopeless and outright grim. Dawson found herself climbing off the car to hold his face between her palms she was so dismayed. She watched him attempt a shutdown, to close the door on his heart and she wanted to scream at Benjamin Dickwad Severide for all the damage writ large on her big guy's psyche.

"Look at me Sev. Look at me."

"He and Boden fight like me and Casey, Bri"

Kelly was whispering. Saying something without saying what he actually meant to say and Dawson was torn between calling him out and just listening. She pressed in close and whispered okay? in response and Kelly wrapped his arms around her waist and seemed to almost will her to understand something he didn't feel comfortable speaking into existence. She blinked up at him. Settled in for a staring contest she'd ultimately win because she loved staring into his eyes just that much. So when Kelly's fingers started tangling in her hair, as he sighed, Dawson was ready.

"Casey and I might never be okay"

The sun was shining in his eyes and Kelly was squinting. Both hands were in her hair, neat ponytail ruined while Dawson processed his assertion. He intuited how important Casey was to her. How important Casey would always be to her and Kelly was calling down a warning. He was telling the truth slant, being oblique and avoiding a direct confrontation with the unfortunate fact for her sake. She said nothing. Not because she was hurt or upset but it was a thing she had to fathom on a large scale. Living her life at odds with someone she cared about deeply. Watching another person she cared for be anxious and stressed on her behalf because it. Picking a side. And it was clear that Kelly thought she'd eventually pick Casey. His hedging was proof enough of that belief. She couldn't say so what? She would not say it didn't matter because it did. For all their arguments and occasional estrangements, Casey was still her friend. She couldn't give him up so easily.

"What does that have to do with your dad?"

"He and Boden are having the same fight. The exact same fight twenty years later. My dad tried to poison me against Mills. Tell me he couldn't handle Squad because he thinks his dad couldn't hack it" Kelly shook his head and Dawson drew his eyes back to her, felt his fingers stroking through her hair as they held each other's gaze.

"I'm mad because they couldn't keep their shit to themselves. My dad tried to involve me and I could have listened. I'm mad that I might end up the same way and I don't want you to watch it happen. I won't make you pick sides but I won't give you up. Not until you tell me to."

Dawson was surprised she hadn't seen the similarities first. Here she thought she'd been confessing the worst sort of secret to keep from a lover to Kelly and he'd already jumped three moves ahead to how his father and Boden were the blueprint for his future connection to Casey and how it might affect her. He'd picked the exact opposite person to be mad with than she thought. He'd put his focus squarely on her. Again. Were all his quiet moods full of this awful circular thinking around her?

She kissed him on the nose. The prospect of Kelly being always on the outs with Casey was a situation that saddened her. Still,

"I will tell you, what I just told Casey. You are not a mistake. I do not for one minute regret you. Not choosing you? That hurt. I was an utter wreck when you fell but didn't think I had the right to show it. I definitely don't deserve you…"

"Bri-"

"Shut up Sev. You said, back in March, that you wanted to try. That you had pride and you wouldn't take me somewhere I didn't want to go. And then you showed up on my doorstep and told me to fuck off with my break bullshit and not to go where you couldn't follow and I am standing here. With you."

Dawson held on tight to his cheeks and brought his forehead to hers because she couldn't look him in the eye for this part. She couldn't say I love you just yet. Couldn't give him the words that would probably make him bolt for the door because Kelly was all about gestures even if he was getting so good with his words. The way he had just articulated his concerns was breaking off more pieces of her heart she didn't think she even had. So Dawson held on. Listened to him breath. Listened to Kelly Severide shut up just because she said so and felt her love for him grow that much deeper. She swallowed and then she spoke.

"I am standing right here and I am saying take me with you. Kelly… I am telling you that I will never tell you to give me up. I can't leave you. I'm awful but I don't care about Shay when I'm with you and I don't care about Casey and even if it took me longer because I was scared and in my own head: I am in this. I wish you could see how deep in this I am with you."

She felt his arms curl around their heads. Dawson burrowed into his chest and kissed his t shirt over his heartbeat and listened for the rhythm she fell asleep to, more nights than not, these days. His heart. How fierce and proud and merciless it was in pursuit of her. How it made her push back and move and live. She was not his shrinking violet. Theirs was never going to be a peaceable relationship. She could handle that. He made her certain of it.

She felt his lips kiss her temple, then her ear and she giggled. It felt like those first few months in her bed when they were all delight and exploration. He made her a map and told her she was found and improbably enough she believed him. Put faith in his little kid joy with her. In his surprise at where they'd ended up and how deeply he dived into it. For a man adverse to heartbreak, Kelly sure did jump into the deep end of an empty pool without thinking. She envied him that impulse. Even as she worried about his heart and how big it really was and what she could do to protect it.

"Bri…"

She listened to the rumble of her name in his throat. Dawson wrapped both her arms around his waist and ignored the traffic cruising by them in cars on the road next to Kelly's Mustang. Dawson pressed in as much as she could and didn't let the idea of anyone watching faze her, or make her self-conscious. She wanted to be a girl holding her guy on a sidewalk in Chicago, so she was. He smelled the way he did in January: of the cologne she couldn't find anywhere in his apartment or gym bag, of the sweat she tasted when she kissed his neck and all their good moments of raucous laughter and pure sex. She hadn't had a sip of tequila in months. She didn't need it.

"I need you to be nice when you see my dad"

Yeah no. That wasn't happening.

Shay didn't know that Kelly and Bri had left the building but she didn't need to. Benny and Boden were the thunderclaps that told you the storm was there even if you saw no rain. Otis and Cruz sat quiet and awkward near the kitchen. Mouch stared at the tv like it was a religion. Truck and Squad were scattered to the foul breeze of their lieutenants' persistent arguments. Shay wanted an escape hatch and a bottle of tequila in no particular order as Casey stomped through the break room. Shay wasn't sure how to help Casey besides being there for him like she did for Kelly. And that started with,

"Matt"

She watched the blond lieutenant startle as she said his first name. It wasn't their thing. They weren't close. It was also extremely informal and inappropriate when they were on shift. But in this strange new world where their best friends dated and silo-ed themselves off in the sugar sweet bubble of a new relationship…. Shay needed all the sanity she could get. Casey's eyes went wide with inquiry and she guided him out of the room away from the prying eyes of his subordinates, further down the hall from the still very very loud shouting. He didn't say anything while she leaned against the wall and organized her thoughts because united front wasn't exactly what she meant by talking to him. Casey had his own agenda and issues with the current situation. She wasn't fool enough to believe otherwise but desperate times called for a change in tactics.

"I know it's weird…" Shay cleared her throat. "Them being together-"

"Weird isn't the word i'd use Shay"

"Noted. But you're the rational sane one of the four of us. Why fight Kelly? The firehouse is literally a powder keg what with Boden screaming down the hall right now and you two picking at each other. You can't seriously believe he's dating Gabi to rile you. That's way too underhanded and sneaky for his way of thinking. Kelly would rather bust your balls directly than involve anyone else. That includes me, in case you think he put me up to this"

She leaned her face into his, the blatant look of incredulity snatching a sigh from Casey as he rubbed his hands over his eyes. Shay wanted to level with him. Tell him this shit was driving her insane and she'd counseled both Kelly and Gabi against it but that wasn't her place and even as panicked and frustrated as she was with their selfish idiocy, she couldn't deny that actual feelings were involved now and pushing either or both of them into a corner would produce reactions she really didn't want to see. Kelly'd already thrown a punch and with his protective instincts, one bad word from Casey would send the situation spiraling out of control.

"What do you want me to say Shay? That I'll back off? It's Gabi! When have I ever-"

"Okay let me stop you right there and remind you of the epic silent treatment shit you pulled. And whatever happened at her cousin's holiday party last year. Your pettiness with Mills trying for Squad probably didn't help and Casey, no lie. I was rooting for you!"

She hissed this quietly. Aware of eavesdropping ears and her own irritation that talking with Casey wasn't working. She liked the lieutenant a lot. Thought he was adorable with Dawson and they would have insanely precious chubby kids within two years of getting together because Dawson was going to lock that shit down when they finally got together. Shay'd thought that from day one, just seeing the two of them look at each other. And that was with Hallie in the picture.

"You've known them both longer than me! How is it I understand all of this better than you?!"

"Shay-"

"Forget Kelly. Do you trust Gabi?" She'd gotten nowhere explaining his old fire academy classmate to him so she focused on the person who was intensifying his conflict with her best friend. "Do you believe that she knows what she's doing? That she's smart enough to see through Kelly?"

Casey's face shuttered and the anxious ill feeling in Shay's stomach strengthened. Casey was Dawson's best friend. What on earth did that look mean?

"I think Gabi has a big heart" Casey responded quietly.

Shay's jaw dropped. Casey didn't trust Dawson? At all? Is that how bad things had gotten? Shay spluttered a retort. Looked away. Looked at Casey again. Her plan wasn't working like she hoped. Casey was so far into his own head about what was going on he thought Gabi's decisions weren't reliable. She was trying to help. She was seriously trying to avoid further calamity-

Maybe you should focus on your fishing and let me take care of Kelly! It's more than you've ever done!

Shay and Casey turned their heads down the hallway to Boden's office. Maybe it was too late to stop anything.

Thanks for taking a chance on reading this. Take care!