A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews of the last chapter. I'm glad you all enjoyed Antonio's POV so much. I'll definitely be writing more from him! Enjoy Chapter 13!

Sylvie's POV

"Cruz, there is no way you're going to convince Otis that he's made the shortlist for the Mission to Mars," Sylvie scoffed, taking a sip of her wine and shaking her head at his friend. They'd been at Molly's for just over an hour now after another tough shift. Cruz had just conveyed his ideas for pranking Otis to Sylvie. She knew there was no way he'd buy it.

Cruz shook his head, "No, he'll believe me, Sylvie," he assured her. "Me and Otis - we're best friends. He'll believe anything he gets in his emails, I know that first hand. This idea? It's genius. He's a hundred percent going to fall for it. And the looks on Herrmann and Mouch's faces when he tells them will be worth it completely, I'm telling you."

"I know Otis too, Cruz, but this is a long shot and you know it," Sylvie sighed, tapping her fingers on the bar. "I'm listening, though. Tell me your plans."

She watched as Cruz grinned at her and took a sip of his own beer before sitting it back on the bar and leaning in towards her. "Okay, get this - cricket protein powder. He'll totally fall for it when I explain to him how great it'll be up there on Mars. It'll take a bit of convincing on my part, but I think it'll work."

"Wait a second, cricket protein powder? Is that actually a thing?"

"Of course it's a thing, Sylvie!" Cruz exclaimed, as if it was odd of Sylvie to think that it actually wasn't real. "I've found some on Amazon, and I put in the order already. I'll send the shortlist email tomorrow night from a fake account and by the time we're back on shift he'll be trying, and failing, to keep it a secret that he's been shortlisted for Mission: Mars."

Sylvie was glad that she still had Cruz in her life. She'd thought that after the break-up he'd not want to be friends with her anymore, but after a while, he'd been completely willing. And he kept the same worry as he did when they were dating. Like when Sylvie had been kidnapped with Mills, she knew that Cruz was always going to be there for her even if they weren't dating anymore.

She was lucky to know Cruz that well, really. And it didn't matter anymore to either of them that they'd been together before. All that mattered to Cruz was that Sylvie was happy and safe, and Sylvie wished the same on Cruz. Their friendship was worth more than anything Sylvie could have asked for, and she loved it.

Not only was she glad to have Cruz's friendship, but she was glad to have Otis' as well. She knew that he'd been crushing on her for months, but it seemed he was finally starting to get over her. Especially know that it was a well-known fact that she was dating Antonio now. She'd been teased about it since the day she'd told the guys in the house last week after their dinner together.

Both Cruz and Otis had taken it surprisingly well, congratulating her with a hug and kiss on the cheek, as they'd usually do. And, after glaring at Severide who had only a few weeks ago told her that he'd apologise to Stella when Sylvie got a boyfriend. Even though he'd already apologised to Stella now, he still pulled Brett into a hug and apologised for being a douche to her just as much as he had been to Stella.

In front of her, Cruz took another drink of his beer and continued speaking to her. "You can't let Otis know that you're aware of this plan, though, you got it?"

Sylvie nodded at him. "Your secret is safe with me, Cruz. But if this all goes wrong, you can't blame me for telling you it was a bad idea. I was against it from the start, don't forget that."

Cruz chuckled but nodded at her before motioning to the barman to grab him another beer. He delivered him one right away, putting it on Cruz's tab before turning back to Sylvie.

"How are you dealing with everything? With the threats and all that?" He asked. She knew he was worried about her, and she was grateful for that. Cruz was always kind to her, he always had been, and Sylvie knew that this was stressful for him as well.

Sylvie shrugged at him. "I've been better, but I've been worse too. This was more difficult at the beginning when we knew nothing about it, but the guys in Intelligence have been really great with it all, you know? Without them, I'd still be terrified about walking out of the house alone, but with patrol looking out for me, and the rest of Intelligence too, it's not so bad."

"As long as you're okay, Sylvie," Cruz nodded, cracking open the top of his beer open and taking a drink of it. "If you ever need to talk to someone other than Kidd, Dawson or Antonio, you're always welcome to talk to me. You're one of my best friends here in Chicago, and that's never going to change."

"I'm good, really. I'm good," Sylvie assured him, finishing off her glass of wine and sitting it back on the bar. "It's late, though, and we've got to be back at work at seven tomorrow. So, I'll see you on shift." She smiled at him, hopping off the bar stool.

"Do you need a lift home?" Cruz asked, watching her grab a few notes out of her wallet and put them on the counter for the wine.

Sylvie shook her head at him and pulled her handbag over her shoulder. "No, Gabby let me take her car tonight since she's home with Matt and Louie anyway. I'm good to get home. Thank you, though, Cruz," she nodded, making her way to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, though. Don't forget that beauty sleep. You need it." She joked before disappearing out the door.

"You're all getting a treat today, guys," Sylvie grinned, placing the tray of cheesy jacket potatoes and corned beef on the table in front of everyone.

"Ah, Chef Sylvie has returned!" Severide exclaimed, grabbing some of it from the tray and putting it onto one of his own plates. It had just passed lunchtime at the firehouse and the day hadn't been too busy so far.

It had been raining for most of the morning and it was finally starting to feel cold in Chicago. They hadn't been out on a call all morning and Sylvie had decided to treat everyone to a warm and cooked lunch, figuring they'd need it for strength or something if they got a call later this afternoon.

Sylvie took a seat down next to Otis and served some up herself, smiling as Chief Boden entered the room and grabbed some for himself. She knew he'd smelt it from the office and couldn't resist.

The fact that she knew Otis was going to be pranked later tonight made it even harder for her to sit next to him and act normal. She caught Cruz's eye across the table though and knew she had to stay quiet, for his sake. If this joke worked, she knew that it'd be the talk of the firehouse for at least two shifts.

Around the table, Gabby, Matt, Stella, Mouch, Severide, Herrmann, Otis, Cruz and Boden were all happily enjoying lunch, with the rest of the guys from the firehouse eventually joining them and filling up the table. Again, much to Mouch's dismay, the food was gone by the time he wanted seconds.

Sylvie smiled at him in sympathy, knowing how much he would have loved seconds on this. But also knowing that if Trudy found out he'd been shoving his face with food at work, he'd be in big trouble. She liked food just as much as he did, but she knew that Trudy would think two cheesy jacket potatoes would be a bit too much for a casual lunch meal, especially with the bacon and eggs he'd ate for breakfast.

She felt her phone buzz in her pocket and pulled it out quickly, reading the new message from Antonio.

Antonio Dawson: Are you still good for breakfast tomorrow morning?

Sylvie Brett: Never been more excited for blueberry pancakes! See you then X

"So, Sylvie..." Stella began, taking a drink of her coffee on the table in front of her. "How's life with a boyfriend now? Our little Sylvie with a cop, I'm emotional just thinking about it."

Sylvie rolled her eyes at Stella, taking a bite of the potato. "Oh, shush, Stella," she chuckled. "But if you must know, I'm very happy with life right now." She smirked, shaking her head in amusement.

Stella grinned across the table at her. "Did you hear that, Gabby? Your big brother and our little Sylvie..."

"I swear I'm going to hit you across the back of the head if you don't shut up soon, Kidd," Gabby joked, taking a sip of her own coffee. "I enjoy teasing them as much as the next person, but please, not during lunch. Especially when I'm enjoying this so much."

Just as Sylvie went to take another bite of potato, the alarm went off in the station. "Ambulance 61, Gunshot wound, 1531 South Karlov Avenue"

Both of them jumped up quickly, hurrying out of the firehouse and straight to the ambulance. Gabby hopped into the drivers side and Sylvie slid into the passenger seat. She turned on the music, glad that Gabby had allowed for her to play country music whenever she drove. They'd worked it out well that way - whenever Gabby drove, Sylvie chose the music and vice versa.

They arrived at the scene minutes later, the rain having turned to snow and ice on the ground below them during the hours they'd been in the firehouse. They pulled the ambo over, Gabby grabbing the bag and walking carefully across the road to the house they'd been called to with Sylvie following behind.

Gabby knocked on the door. "Fire Department, Ambulance 61." She called. No one replied. With a look at Sylvie, she nudged the door open, finding that someone had already opened it.

The two of them walked inside quietly, Gabby asking if anyone was inside. When they reached the living room, they heard a groan outside. "Come on," Gabby called to Sylvie who was checking a room behind them. Sylvie rushed outside with Gabby, finding a man sitting on the floor of a flat in the backyard, the door wide open.

"Sir, we're here to treat your leg. Can you tell me what happened?" Gabby asked, dropping to her knees beside him and unzipping the bag, working on sussing out the wound and talking to the man.

The man only groaned in pain and Gabby sighed. "Brett, go grab the gurney. This guy won't be able to walk without it. This wound is pretty bad."

Sylvie nodded, beginning to jog back through the open house and back onto the road where they'd parked the ambo. She watched her step on the snow which was now settling onto the asphalt. That was one of the reasons Sylvie wasn't a fan of winter - calls when they had to fight the snow weren't fun.

She pulled open the doors of the ambo, hopping inside and accidentally knocking some of the equipment from the side of the ambo as she did so. She ignored it, grabbing the end of the gurney and working to push it out of the ambo, letting the back wheels hit the snowy ground.

As she was about to jump out, she stopped still at the sight of a man standing a few feet away from her. He was holding a gun, a beanie wrapped around his head, scarf around his neck, dressed in a black trench-coat.

"Uh, sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step away," Sylvie spoke, hoping her voice didn't sound as nervous as she suddenly was. The fact that this man may have been the person who shot their patient crossed her mind, not long before the fact that he may have been working with the men who threatened her crossed it too.

She stepped slowly down from the ambulance, moving to the other side of the gurney to distance herself from him. He still hadn't moved, but the gun was still trained on her.

"Listen, sir. I'm going to need you to step away so I can take this to treat our patient." Sylvie spoke again, her hands steadying the gurney as it sat half in the ambulance and half on the ground.

As she went to move again, she felt a hot pain hit her side and stumbled backwards, her hands immediately moving to her side and putting pressure on it. She watched as the man ran from the scene as she lost her balance from the pain and fell to the side of the ambulance, pushing herself up against the wheel and groaning it pain.

She risked a look at her side which was now covered in blood, her hands covering the wound also covered in the substance. Stars danced in her vision as the pain intensified, her hands pressing harder on the wound to try and stop the bleeding as best she could.

She knew there was no chance she'd be able to stand with this pain, and, moving one of her bloody hands and leaving the other on the wound, moved it up to the radio hooked around her body, pressing it and speaking in a painfully soft whisper, hoping whoever was on the other end would be able to hear her.

"Ambulance 61 requesting police back-up. Paramedic down."

Her eyes drooped quickly, her hand dropping from the radio and onto the cold snow as everything around her went black.