A/N: Here's to giving the shooter hell.
"I'm only going to say it one more time," Antonio growled, his hands holding onto the fabric of the man's jacket tightly. "Why did you shoot that paramedic?"
The man in front of him shrugged, a smirk still resting effortlessly on his face. His dark hair was messed up and falling over his forehead, sweat rested on his brow from the throw around he'd had from both both Antonio and Voight. Yet, he still wouldn't budge. The fact he'd been found with a gun didn't give them enough evidence, and even though Erin and Jay were headed to Med right now to try and identify him with Sylvie, Antonio needed his confession.
Antonio, eyes flaming with anger, allowed his hand to come down on the mans cheek before angrily walking away, running his own fingers through his hair and messing it up. They'd been at this for at least 45 minutes and had no developments. Both he and Voight had been working at him, but nothing had worked. He didn't understand why - the man was clearly guilty, but he wouldn't say anything. For what reason, Antonio didn't know.
Behind him, Voight stood, leaning against the desk, a finger pointed at the man as he spoke. "We're going to give you one more chance before we lock you in that cage and force a confession out of you. What you've had so far? That's nothing compared to what's coming."
Antonio turned to watch as Voight attempted to interrogate him, still angry from not getting a confession. He hated not being at Med with Sylvie, and he didn't even know how she was doing - whether she was awake and fine, or if something bad had happened. He'd left his phone in the car, not wanting to be bothered while he was dealing with her shooter.
"Silence isn't going to help you, Jonathan," Voight spoke, the threat clear in his voice as he did so. "In fact, it's more than likely what'll get you killed."
With a breath, Antonio made his way back over to Voight, giving a quick nod at Voight before stepping behind the man and grabbing him, hoisting him from the chair and pushing him toward the cage. He wouldn't interfere with what Voight had planned for the man, in fact, he'd act like he hadn't seen a thing like he usually did. After handcuffing him to the wiring and letting Voight inside, Antonio closed the gate behind him and moved to stand at the bottom of the staircase, closing the door behind him.
It wasn't difficult to ignore the exclamations of pain from the room behind him.
"He caved," Voight spoke, joining Antonio in the staircase less than twenty minutes later. "Should be fine for the most part, bit of bruising here and there, but we got a confession and that's all that matters."
Antonio nodded at him, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "What'd we get on him?"
With a glance toward the door at the top of the staircase to make sure it was closed, Voight began to speak. "He said he'd been tracking Ambulance 61 since the day of the fire last month. He'd been working alongside Kyle Martin, the man who said he didn't know who the third accomplice was. He was the one who instructed Martin to destroy Brett's car. It seems that Jonathan there is the instigator of it all. Works with Tony from the fire and Kyle from the car, but he's good at covering his footprints. He's happy to keep most of the blame on the other two, which is what we found at the warehouse fire."
Antonio listened, taking in all of the information. If Jonathan had confessed, he could be charged with shooting a paramedic and attempting to kill and harm a worker for the city.
"When Tony and Kyle didn't do enough damage to Brett because of her interference at the fire, he took matters into his own hands."
"But why did they go after Brett? Did he tell you that? I was there that day, at the fire. All she wanted to do was get Tony and his wife to the hospital for a check-up. There was nothing out of the ordinary," Antonio stated.
"Remember that sexual assault record Tony has? He got out of it, just like Kyle did, with fake names and ids. Both Tony and Kyle are known to the police but they've managed to hide and keep themselves, and Jonathan, out of the public for years. Brett insisting on taking Tony to the hospital meant they'd be found again. That's why Jonathan went after her. For her interference in their hiding spot. Admitted to me that he already got the man that lit Tony's place on fire."
Antonio sighed, shaking his head at the news and at the fact that Jonathan, Tony and Kyle had gone after Sylvie for something so simple. "Anything else before I head back to the hospital?"
Voight nodded at him. "Just before I came in here, Jonathan admitted to me that he didn't aim specifically to miss vital organs when he shot Sylvie. He aimed to kill."
The hospital was quiet when Antonio returned half an hour later with Voight. They'd come to deliver the good news to Sylvie - that the threat was gone and that Jonathan had admitted to shooting her. After quickly greeting Sylvie, Antonio and Voight stood beside her bed, beginning to tell her everything that Voight had just said.
Antonio didn't miss the fact that her eyes were bloodshot and red as if she'd been crying. He regretted not being there for her when she woke up that morning as she spoke about some of the other guys from the firehouse visiting, but he felt lucky that she had them, if anyone.
"So, what sentences are they looking at? I mean... they'll have to go on trial, right? What will they get for doing all of those things?" Sylvie asked, half sitting up in the bed, the book Dune open in her hands.
Voight, with a glance at Antonio, began to speak. "Jonathan, for the attempted murder of you, is looking at life. Kyle, for damaging your car so badly, could be looking for up to ten years, but, with the threat that was left in a box, he could be looking at more. Tony, he admitted that he was the one to leave the threatening note at your apartment, meaning he's looking at up to ten years as well."
Sylvie nodded at him, and Antonio could tell she was nervous as she did so. Yet, all the threats against her now were done. Jonathan, Kyle and Tony would most likely all be going to prison. Antonio hated the fact that he knew Sylvie would be called to testify against all three, and that Gabby and himself would most likely have to testify too.
The fact that Sylvie was safe now, though, filled him with happiness. He'd still have her come and stay with him when she was discharged, but now that there were no threats on her life, it made it all so much simpler.
Antonio wished that she'd never had to go through all of this - death threats, destroyed property, being shot. But he also knew that if Sylvie didn't go through any of that, if Antonio hadn't been at the scene that day when Tony was taken to hospital, that he would probably not have been dating Sylvie that very moment. He'd be here today, as a normal detective, worried for his sisters friend.
A knock on the door stopped his thoughts as he looked toward it and saw Gabby and Matt on the other side, both smiling at Sylvie. "Oh, hi, Hank, Tonio." Gabby greeted, stepping inside. "What's going on?"
Voight greeted the two of them back with a simple nod, but he stepped towards them. "I'll explain it to you outside for a moment. Let these two have a moment. We've had some pretty important revelations back at the precinct that you two need to know, especially considering your living situation."
He followed Gabby and Matt outside, closing the door behind him and leaving Antonio and Sylvie alone inside her room.
"You feeling okay?" Antonio asked, moving towards her and taking her hand once more. It felt like days since he'd held it, yet hadn't been that long.
She nodded at him. "Yeah, much better than before. Rhodes checked on me earlier, the pain was really bad earlier today, but it's better now, and they're weening me off of the meds slowly too, to make sure I'll be good enough without them when I'm discharged."
Antonio listened as she spoke, instantly feeling guilty that he hadn't been there this morning. "I shouldn't have left when you were sleeping, I'm sorry."
"No, don't worry about it. I had Gabby, and Cruz. Stella, Severide and Otis came by later as well. I've had a good day. And you're here now, it's okay. Plus, I'm completely capable of handling myself." She smiled.
He laughed lightly and nodded at her. "I suppose so," he smiled. "Hey, I was talking to Gabby before, and I was just wondering what your thoughts are on coming to stay with me after you get discharged? Just so you don't put too much stress on Gabby or anything, not that you're too stressful of a person. But I can help you get back on track just as much as Gabby can."
Sylvie thought for a moment before hesitantly nodding. "That sounds fine," she spoke. "But it's only temporary, right? I don't want us to move too quickly. With moving in and all that..."
Antonio nodded at her, looking down at her hand in his. "Absolutely. This is just temporary, so you're not alone when you're resting up and getting better."
"Then sure," she agreed. "As soon as I'm discharged. Rhodes told me that if I'm able to walk and feel okay without too many painkillers in my system by the next few days I should be good to head home."
He let out a breath at the fact that she'd said she'd come and stay with him. Even if it wasn't permanent, the fact that he'd be able to watch over her while she was recovering made him feel much better. Antonio smiled at her and gripped her hand tighter, happy that she was okay with staying with him. It would make him feel a whole lot better that there wasn't a threat on her life anymore, and even though he knew she'd hate not working for the next few weeks, it'd be better to have her recovering without all the stress of Gabby and Matt's relationship, Louie and work.
Antonio knew his job was stressful but he hoped she wouldn't mind too much. What mattered to him mostly was caring for her after everything that had happened. She deserved his full attention, and now that her shooter was looking at life in prison, he knew that she'd get it. Even if he hadn't been there earlier today when she was in pain. He would be from now on.
Five days later.
"Well, I certainly expected that when I'd be coming here again it'd be for a different reason," Sylvie sighed, stepping into Antonio's apartment, and instantly blushing as she realised what she said.
Antonio chuckled behind her and put her bags down next to the couch. "You're here to recover," he smirked. "Don't forget that."
Over the past few days, Sylvie had recovered in hospital extremely well. She'd had plenty of visitors, and two days ago, Rhodes had cleared her to go home, yet he'd kept her in for an extra day and a half to make sure he was right. Late last night, he realised she was completely fine and decided to send her home.
For now, her home was with Antonio. Even if they weren't that far into their relationship and didn't want to rush things too much, Antonio had to be with her. He didn't like the idea of her staying at her own apartment and dealing with the stress of recovering from a gunshot wound on her own.
"I'm not going to push anything," Antonio said as he led her into the spare bedroom. "So, I've made up the bottom of the bunk in here, which I usually leave to the kids. It's a double, and you've slept there before, so you should be comfortable. Considering the kids won't be here until Christmas..."
Sylvie nodded at him and smiled, turning around. "It's great, really, Antonio. Thank you. I'm glad to not be a burden on Gabby and Matt anymore. Plus, it's really sweet that you're looking after Gabby like that, by taking me on. Thank you."
"Absolutely," Antonio replied, heading back into the main living area of the apartment. "Now, if you take a seat and relax on that couch, I'll get started on making us breakfast. Know any good blueberry pancake recipes?"