We're at Chapter 7. I know you guys are holding out for something to happen... just wait till the end of this chapter... ;)
It had been a few days since Sylvie had stayed the night at Antonio's house. He'd refused to let her sleep on the couch and instead gave her the spare bedroom where his kids usually slept when they visited, even though she protested against it. After she'd woken up, he'd driven her to Gabby and Matt's place and she'd gotten ready for work. The day was as normal as any other.
Sylvie hadn't seen Kim since that night, but she was hoping that she'd kept her mouth shut about it all, having been a little embarrassed that she'd admitted to liking Antonio. She'd downplayed it herself, and she felt like Kim knew that too. The firehouse had been quiet lately, with only a few calls on their last shift. It was just before 4pm on a Thursday when something finally happened to get everyone out of the firehouse.
The call came through suddenly. "Truck 81, Ambulance 61, Squad 3. Structural fire, 3400 West 43rd Street."
Sylvie jumped into action, hurrying to the ambo, Gabby running behind her. It was her turn to drive this shift and she pulled the front door open quickly, jumping inside and pulling her seatbelt on before starting up the ambo and following Truck and Squad as they pulled out of the firehouse before her.
They got there within ten minutes due to their quick driving and reaction, Gabby and Sylvie immediately grabbing the gurney and pulling it out as Boden assessed the situation and let Truck make their way inside to see if anyone was inside. The smoke wasn't bad yet and it was still safe for them to head in.
Less than five minutes later, the fire was almost out and Casey came running out toward Gabby, looking worried. "Call your brother. We've found something he's going to want to see." Sylvie didn't miss his eyes shifting to her for a moment before he disappeared back inside to work on getting the fire out. Luckily, it had only been a small one inside, yet Severide had mentioned something about seeing a body, but it was too far gone to save.
Gabby frowned, yet grabbed her phone from her pocket and called Antonio, wondering what had been found inside that was so important.
Antonio, Erin, Jay, Voight, Atwater, Olinksy and Ruzek had arrived twenty minutes after Gabby had called. They'd packed up the ambulance again, but none of them had left. They still had to overhaul and the police had to see what they'd found inside.
Gabby sat with Sylvie on the back of the ambo, both of them wanting to know what was going on. Neither of them had spoken to each other since Casey had come out with the news and neither of them really wanted to say anything, rather staying quiet than talking over something they both knew nothing about.
Ruzek and Atwater walked out of the warehouse ten minutes later, making their way over to Gabby and Sylvie. "Hey, you two okay?" Atwater asked as Gabby and Sylvie stood up.
"Yeah, we're fine. What's going on? Can we go in and see whatever they're talking about or not?" Gabby sighed, obviously annoyed at being kept back from something so important.
"That's why we're here. Follow us, it's a little way in but the fire's out now. You two will definitely want to see this," Ruzek nodded, walking with them toward the warehouse. "This place has been out of service for years, which explains what we found. Nobody ever comes here anymore, but we're lucky we got the call."
Sylvie followed Gabby and Ruzek into the warehouse, Atwater following after her. It was still hazy inside, but she didn't mind. It had to be important, so she'd do whatever she could to see it. They walked further into the warehouse and into a back room where Antonio, Erin, Jay, Voight and Olinksy were stood with Casey, Severide and Boden. Ruzek and Atwater joined the others, letting Gabby and Sylvie move forward to see what it was.
On the wall in front of them was a number of pictures and newspaper clippings about the firehouses, hospitals and police departments of Chicago, particularly House 51, Chicago Med and District 21. Sylvie stepped forward, reading through a couple of them. She couldn't spot her name or anything about her particularly anywhere, but it worried her anyway.
She turned around to face the officers. "What is all this?"
Voight stepped forward. "This is our lead to everything that's happening with you. We found a few files in the drawers that could lead us to the real name and details of the man who we believe is threatening you. If we're right, he's already in the system for sexual assault. This could have been his hideout - he knows that 51, District 21 and Med work closely together. It makes sense."
Sylvie nodded, turning back to look at the wall. She felt cold in here, and she didn't like it at all. This whole warehouse reminded her of when she and Mills were kidnapped to safe a life a few years ago, and she didn't want to revisit that moment. "Uh, I'm just going to head outside now."
She pushed past Voight, Erin and Jay, making her way out of the warehouse and back outside where she found her seat back on the ambo. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself down - this was good news. If they could find this guy, they could stop him threatening Sylvie, they could stop everything. But she was still anxious about it all.
"Hey, you alright?" Gabby asked beside her, leaning against the side of the ambulance and looking at Sylvie with a worried look on her face. "You got out of there pretty quick."
Sylvie nodded at her, putting a smile on her face and turning to face her. "Yeah, just didn't like it in there. Reminded me of times I'd rather not remember," she chuckled, shaking her head.
Gabby stepped forward and rubbed her shoulder. "Hey, this is good, okay? They've got a lead now. It won't be long till you'll be able to go home and not have to deal with Matt and Louie anymore," she laughed.
"Ah, Matt and Louie are no big deal. It's really you that ticks me off..." she joked. Gabby grinned at her, shaking her head.
"Watch yourself, Brett," she smirked. "I'm gonna go talk to Matt for a second, but I'll be back. Don't leave without me."
The next night, Gabby was serving at Molly's for the night. Herrmann and Otis were working alongside her, and the bar was pretty busy. It was just past 9:30pm. Matt was at home looking after Louie, and Sylvie had tagged along, meeting up with Stella and talking to her at the other end of the bar.
Antonio sat in front of Gabby, sipping his beer and occasionally talking to Gabby between serving people.
"How's Brett doing?" Antonio asked, taking another drink of his beer and looking up at Gabby.
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Brett's doing fine. She's a little on edge with all this. But when it's over she'll be fine. She's strong, you know? She can deal with all this easily." Gabby shrugged at him.
Antonio nodded back. "Yeah, she's strong, I know that. Thanks for going after her yesterday, by the way, when she left the warehouse. I didn't want her to be alone going through there."
Gabby smirked at him from across the bar as she poured a drink for a lady, not replying to him until the lady had her drink. She walked back over to him and leant down on the bench in front of him. "Spill the beans, Tonio. What's going on with you and Brett?"
He frowned at her and shook his head. "Nothing's going on between Brett and I, Gabby. I'm just looking out for her."
"Oh, that's bullshit and you and I both know it. When was the last serious relationship you had? Oh, yeah, Laura. Now, I know you loved Laura, but that's all over now. You need to get yourself out there, Tonio. You're getting old," she winked. He glared back at her. "Listen to me. Sylvie's great, she's had a fiancé in the past who left her, she's dated Cruz. She deserves this just as much as you do. And you've got my blessing."
"I don't like her that way, Gabby," Antonio shook his head, taking a swig of his beer. "I'm just being friendly with her because she's in trouble right now."
Gabby rolled her eyes at him. "The more you keep denying this, the further away she gets. If you don't get the guts now, I'll have to do it for you. And that'd be embarrassing for you."
She smiled at him knowingly before walking away to serve someone further down the bar. Antonio looked around, knowing that Sylvie was in here somewhere. She'd been sitting with Stella earlier, and he easily spotted her, sitting at the tables on the side with Severide, both intently discussing something.
Antonio stood up, beer in hand, and wandered up to the other end of the bar, ignoring Gabby's eyes on him as he did so. He spotted Brett sitting alone at the bar, staring at the wood of the bench, obviously deep in thought.
He stopped for a moment, thinking of what he was about to do. But Gabby was right - he'd not been serious with anyone since Laura, and he was surely lying to himself if he said that there wasn't some sort of connection between himself and Sylvie. Antonio shook his head and sighed before stepping toward Sylvie, taking the spare seat beside her.
"Oh, hi, Antonio," she smiled, nodding her head at him.
"You doing okay after yesterday?" He asked, smiling back.
She nodded at him. "Yeah, it was just a little stressful, but I'm good. Thanks for asking though. It's good to know I've got someone like you looking out for me."
Antonio smiled at her, nodding. "Uh, c-can I buy you a drink?"
A smile suddenly appeared on her face before she looked down to the drink on the bar in front of her and back up at Antonio. "Uhhh," she smiled, awkwardly.
Antonio mentally slapped himself before letting out a small laugh. "Rain check on that, then?"
Sylvie smiled at him before nodding. "Yeah, definitely."
