Title: Growing Pains
Chapter 5 – A Small but Serious Warning

Casey reaches Heather's home, stops his truck and heads for the front door; his mind slightly agitated after his heated argument with Severide over Hadley's stupid note. He knew it was just meant to cause trouble but at the same time he couldn't get past his own insecurities of being suddenly thrust into parenthood. But Kelly had allied his fears and now it would be a moot issue – or so he keeps telling himself. He'd have to, for the sake of peace in their household.

He reaches the front door, pulls his key but then stops just as he notices the door slightly ajar. "What the…hell?" He softly curses as he turns and looks at the cars on the front street. "Hello?" Casey calls out as he slowly pushes the door open and pokes his head into the quiet dwelling.

"Hello!" Casey calls out again as he pushes the door all the way open and then heads further into the quiet house, his heart rate starting to elevate. I know I locked the door when I left. "Anyone in her…" Casey tries and then stops when he hears a noise in the back yard.

He hurries toward it, pulling his phone in the process, ready to call for help if necessary. He notices the backdoor also unlocked and carefully opens it. His eyes instantly go to the small back yard shed, the open door and a few of the boy's things on the ground.

"What the hell…" Casey mutters again as he picks up the pace. He nears the open door and then slows his pace, looking around in wonder. "Hello?" He tries once more; his mind now thinking that maybe he disturbed a burglar. But just as he pops his head into the darkened space to see what else is missing, a glint of something catches his eye and he turns. His eyes slightly widening as he thinks he recognizes the face but something strikes the side of his head and sends him staggering to the left before a solid identification can be made.

"You'll all pay for what you do to me!" The voice growls as Casey is struck again, sinking to his knees as his hands frantically try to place a call.

"HEL…" Casey tries to call out as his lungs constrict. The phone is slapped from his hand and mocking laughter fills his head as heavy footsteps hurry past. "You'll lose those kids yet!" The voice hisses as Casey lifts his spinning head, desperate to get his eyes to focus.

Hadley?…he silently questions as his mind tries to focus on the voice before his frame sags further to the ground, his fingers touching his temple and coming away with a fresh smattering of crimson sludge.

At the same time that Hadley is making his way around the end of the block, Severide's car comes to a screeching halt out front. He races for the open door and then stops. "Matt!" He calls out frantically as he dials Casey's number once more. His ears finally pick up the faint ringing sound in the distance, his brain urging his legs to pick up the pace.

"Matt!" Severide exclaims in horror as he spies Casey on the ground, slowly getting up to all fours, muttering incoherently. "Where'd…he go?" Severide calls out, Casey pointing to the left. Severide hurries past as Casey gets himself to a seated position, looking around for his phone.

"Gone! Was it Hadley?" Severide asks firmly as he kneels by Casey's side to assess the damage.

"Jumped me…from behind. I thought…I thought I saw red hair…Hadley?" Casey stammers as Severide gently twists his head to the left. "Really?"

"Trouble magnet," he softly grimaces as he flicks away a few pieces of dirt bits trying to embed themselves in the soft, chewed up flesh.

"Who…me?" Casey grumbles.

"Yes you, hold on a sec."

"I'm fine," Casey groans as he tries to stand up.

"Here…hey, hold on," Severide tells him as he grabs Casey by his elbow and helps him slowly stand up; handing him his phone in the process. "What happened?"

"How do you know it was Hadley?" They both ask at the same time.

"I got a call from dad…the nosey neighbor next door called him…"

"Joann something right?" Casey groans as he gingerly touches his head.

"Yeah her, she described Hadley to dad. Come on let's go in," Severide directs Casey inside to get himself cleaned up. "What happened when you got here? Did you talk to him?"

"Didn't even see him," Casey shrugs as he sits down at the kitchen table, Severide heading for the small first aid kit he knows Andy had kept under the sink for back yard emergencies. "I came to the front door, it was open, I came inside. I saw that the back door was open and then I saw stuff on the ground that looked like it was being taken from the shed. I called out and heard nothing so went to take a look and then was hit on the side…ow…yes there."

"Hold still a second longer," Severide lightly huffs as Casey turns his head back.

"I thought I saw red hair but I didn't want to…what was he doing here? He'd never steal from Heather when she's in jail."

"You sure about that? You know if he's desperate and without a job then he'll need money…"

"Maybe," Casey replies as Severide applies a small Band-Aid to his temple and then puts the kit away. "But then why steal the boy's things?"

"Maybe it's a quick sell? I don't know but maybe we should bring some of the stuff to your place and the rest lock in the basement."

"Good plan," Casey nods as he slowly stands up and looks around.

"You okay?"

"Yeah fine…I just…what's his game?"

"I have no idea and I promised dad I wouldn't butt my nose in with AI's investigation but…"

"But what?"

"But…nothing," Severide huffs as he turns and heads for the back door.

"Kelly, wait. But what?" Casey presses.

"I think we should look a bit further into Hadley ourselves but we can't let anyone else know we're doing it. We can't screw with the investigation. I get that. I just…"

"Okay, like what?" Casey asks slowly.

"What do we really know about Hadley?"

"Loner…broken home…other than that…"

"That's about it right? He never talked about family or close friends…high school sweethearts…."

"Does he have family?" Casey inquires.

"His mom's in the wind from what he told me and his dad…" Severide shrugs. "Boden would still have his original hiring form right? That lists an emergency contact."

"If we ask Boden, he might tell us no and to drop it and leave it with AI," Casey reminds him. "Unless…"

"Unless what?" Severide urges.

"One of us distracts him while the other…"

"Breaks into his files?" Severide asks in shock.

"Right, bad idea," Casey frowns as he leans back against the wall.

"But not completely far fetched."

"But it would at least give us a place to start? Maybe?"

"Might be worth the risk if he keeps this up."

"We don't know for sure."

"The nosey neighbor described him to dad. Matt, it was Hadley. He gave you a small warning but I fear as dad said he won't stop until someone's dead! We can't take that risk. AI looks at the legal stuff because they can't lay charges without proper evidence in place. But we have the right to protect our own asses!"

"I would be curious to know who he put down," Casey remarks lightly. "But if we're caught…"

"We can't do it right now because the other shift won't understand…we can't take that risk. When we're back on shift we have to get into that office for a few minutes to…"

"Stage an argument?" Casey suggests. "We stage an argument."

"Then he'll come with us," Severide responds as he too thinks of a solution.

"Okay let's get back to our original plan of cleaning up the outside and then maybe something brilliant will come up."

"How's your head?"

"Hard as ever," Casey quips as Severide softly smirks. "I'm okay, really."

"You know he's playing for keeps – Hadley. If he wasn't, he'd have backed off by now."

"I know. That worries me also."

The two of them offer each other a nod before heading outside into the backyard to clean up. Casey takes the two boys bikes to his truck to keep them at his place while Severide carries the rest of the contents into the basement, leaving the small outside shed completely empty. During that time Casey had called for a mobile locksmith to come and change the front and back locks.

"You okay?" Severide asks as he finds Casey about an hour later in one of the boy's rooms.

"Bit of a headache," Casey huffs as he looks up from his seated position on the bed. "At least there is nothing of real value left in here," Casey mentions; most of the electronics at his place and whatever jewelry Heather had was in a safety deposit box in the bank – only Casey having the key. Inside the box were all their important papers, including the will and the deed to the Darden house.

"At least it's not bleeding still," Severide notes as Casey's fingers come away from the dry outer edges of the bandage and he stands up.

"Well…it looks like I got everything they wrote down," Casey mentions as he hands Severide the list each boy had made of things they wanted from home. "I think I figured out a way to get Boden out of his office."

"How?"

"We have our annual physicals right? Blood pressure and all that? I know what drawer the file is in and I can get to it in a few minutes. I'll take a picture of the contact info while you distract him about the case."

"Could work," Severide ponders.

"Course it'll work, it's brilliant," Casey playfully boasts as he heads toward the door, handing Severide one of the boys very stuffed backpacks to take down to the car with them. "In the meantime we just gotta be careful."

"So says the man who took a shovel to the head," Severide gently counters as Casey utters a soft groan. "See you at home."

"Okay."

Casey gets into his truck and starts it up; Severide puling away but neither of them noticing the narrowed set of eyes watching them from a discreet distance. Hadley watches Casey's truck finally pull away from the Darden house, and feels his teeth grit. From the day he started he could tell that Severide watched out for Casey from a distance; a silent kinship that was often expressed more by actions than words, especially in public. How'd he get here that fast? Was he on his way already? Or did someone call? Hadley looks around at the neighbours houses and starts to wonder. In any case, he had seen the locksmith and so would have to find another way to get into the Darden home to retrieve the item he had to get before someone else found it to use against him. But he knows that until the final nail was driven into the coffin – his coffin, the two pesky 51 Lieutenant's wouldn't stop until he was either dead or behind bars. Two options he didn't want! But what Benny Severide had said was true – his plan was to escalate until someone was dead. He knows the person in his mind who he wants to kill, hurting others he cares for along the way was all part of the plan. See you both very soon.

XXXXXXXX

"So what do you do on nights when there is no work and no foreseeable outing? What…is that? RISK?" Severide chuckles as he tries to snatch the large board game from Casey's grasp.

"Hey!" Casey pulls it back with a smirk. "Give that back. Thought we'd play a friendly game tonight."

"Friendly? It can get pretty heated."

"The boys will be fine. They usually don't get too riled up over stuff like this."

"I was talking about us," Severide grins as he manages to dislodge the game from Casey's grasp. "This is…has it been played yet?"

"Once. My dad bought it for us and we played it…well the week he died," Casey lightly stammers as Severide's face droops.

"Hey man…I didn't know," he offers in hastened remorse.

"It's okay. It's um…it's a fun game and I thought the boys would like it. I need something they can engage in and I don't have many games that four can play. So…RISK is it!" He taps the side before he heads into the living room; Severide leaning against the living room frame watching.

"The last time my dad and I played this…we um…we talked about what it would be like to play…you know second thought, maybe this isn't the right game to play after all."

"Talked about what?"

"What it would be like to play it with my son," Casey's voice starts to break. "He said I'd make a great father. Hallie and I had talked about a family and then she left…and those thoughts left and then she came back and we made plans again and now she's gone and I'm taking a crash course in parenting. Hadley's words weren't all lies."

"You won't fail them Matt. You can't."

"You think they'll like the game?"

"Andy loved it so I'm sure they will too," Severide assures him.

"Okay. Ready?"

"Yeah let's go and get them their own beds."

The two of them leave Casey's house and head for a discount furniture store in search of two single beds, a small chest of drawers, some closet fixings and of course bedding. After that they stopped in at a nearby diner, had lunch and then headed back to Casey's to set up the new boys room.

"Well?"

"I wanna move in here," Severide answers with a smile as he and Casey step back and admire the new living arrangement they had created for Ben and Griffin. "What's next?"

"Let's go pick them up and bring them back to their new home."

"I'll drive," Severide volunteers.

"Deal."

"Can't wait to see the looks on their faces," Severide grins as he slaps Casey on the back. The ride to the elementary school is spent talking about what they'd do on the weekend; the weather still being pretty decent for fall and might be a nice opportunity for them all to work outside the yard and then maybe have Christie and her family over for a BBQ dinner.

"Thought I'd invite Boden," Severide suggests. "Toss in Shay and we have a regular party."

"Think it should be okay. Would be nice for the boys to see all the support we have. I know Hermann wants to have them over to play with his kids."

"Damn six," Severide huffs. "Can't imagine having six kids to look after, can you?"

"Two's enough," Casey smirks as they near the school. Severide parks his car in the parents waiting area, Casey looking around for the boys. But a few moments later, Severide's angry curse punctuates the silence.

"Son of a bi…"

"What?" Casey asks in haste.

"Look who's car that is," Severide growls as he's quick to get out of his car and hurry toward a very familiar sedan.

"Kelly, wait!" Casey calls out in vain as he hangs back. Severide's eyes narrow as they lock with Hadley's; Hadley's car peeling away just before Severide reaches it.

"COWARD!" Severide yells; his angry outburst drawing a few curious glances. He turns and heads back to the car, muttering under his breath as Casey looks at him in wonder. "Why the hell is he here?"

"To provoke a fight."

"Yeah well it's working," Severide huffs as he slumps back into the front driver's seat.

"You warned me to give him what he wants and I'm going to warn you back. Don't give him reason to put the pressure on us instead of him."

"Yeah…I know," Severide groans as he rubs his face; the two Darden boys rushing toward their car. "Hadley didn't know I'd be here."

"Kelly…"

"I'm just saying," Severide replies seriously. "Here they come."

"Okay just smiles and no talk of Hadley," Casey reminds him.

"Got it. Hey guys!"

"I got an A on my science test," Griffin brags as he holds up his paper with a big red A+ on it.

"Now that calls for something special!"

"Only for Griffin?" Ben asks sadly.

"What did you do today Ben?" Casey asks as both boys file into the back of Severide's car.

"I volunteered to help the teacher at first recess."

"Well I'd say that also calls for something special. Don't you Uncle Kelly?"

"Sure do."

"What do we get?" Ben asks eagerly.

"Oh you'll hafta wait and see," Casey replies with a wide smile. On the way home, Casey keeps the boys talking about their day, what other things they did well and if there were any issues they wanted to discuss. Casey heard a bit of hesitation in Griffin's voice but didn't want to press the issue, telling himself that if there was something the young boy wanted to talk about he'd best do it in private.

As soon as they get home, Casey plays it cool; not letting on that there was a surprise waiting upstairs for the boys. He lets them take off their jackets and shoes, put their backpacks down and then drops the bomb.

"Why don't we go upstairs and see what's waiting." But he barely gets the words from his mouth before both boys race for the stairs to go up. As they reach their room, each boy stops and stares in shock at two separate beds; one outfitted in Chicago White Sox attire for Griffin and the other in Transformers for Ben.

"We get our own bed! Cool!"

"And look I got a megatron backpack!" Ben gushes as he jumps up and down on his bed.

"Ah…we gotta take care of that," Casey lightly warns as Ben flops down onto his bum and looks up with a flushed face. "So you guys like having your own beds now?"

"Yeah much better than sharing with someone who kicks," Griffin pokes his brother; both adult males laughing.

"Okay so we're gonna get supper started and then I thought we'd play RISK."

"Really?"

"Have you played it before?"

"Yeah our dad used to play it with us."

"Was Andy's favorite," Severide mentions softly as Casey looks up with a small frown. "Wash your hands for supper boys."

Casey and Severide head downstairs as both boys pull themselves away from their new surprises and hurry for the bathroom. Supper is started and soon all four are in the kitchen, helping out and doing various duties; Casey telling them that he'd like a bit of input from each as to what they wanted to each for meals when he and Kelly were there; the rest of the time they'd have to eat what Christie made for them.

"What is this?"

"Strew. Didn't your mom make beef stew?"

"It wasn't like this," Ben shakes his head as Casey looks at them in amusement. "It was…just different."

"But this is good too," Griffin adds in has as Ben nods in agreement.

"That's what counts," Casey smiles as they continue their dinner. After dinner the dishes are cleaned up, washed and put away before the four of them head into the small dining room and Casey pulls outs the game of RISK and sets it up, each of them taking a color.

"Uh…Uncle Matt…you can't put your troops there…I already have control of Russia," Severide states with a firm smile.

"Yes but this isn't a part of Russia…it's separate."

"The color's the same as…"

"Oh I don't think so," Casey retorts in sarcasm.

"Oh I think so. You come near that and see what happens," Severide goads.

"Oh is that a fact? Well I think I'll just…"

"Do and die!"

"Do you two need a time out?" Griffin buts in, both adult males looking at him in shock. "I mean really…it is just a game."

Casey's lips slightly purse as he looks at Severide and both utter a small chuckle of embarrassment before Severide nods and Casey withdraws his little colored game pieces. They play for another hour until Ben puts up his hands in victory; the other three game players groaning in defeat.

"I think you cheated!" Severide teases as he scoops Ben up in his grasp and carries the laughing boy out of the room.

"Did you have fun?"

"Yeah it was a fun game. We used to play with our dad."

"I know," Casey nods as he leans in a bit closer. "Something happened at school today right?"

"It wasn't that big a deal."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Next week is parent teacher's night and um…well I said no one was coming."

"Okay. Do you want me to go and talk to your teachers?"

"Don't you have to work?"

"I'll make time if you want me to be there. I know you are doing well in school but I know there have been some tough times also."

"Kids say things about mom being in jail."

"And that hurts right?" Casey asks as Griffin nods in sorrow. "I know it's not easy," Casey sighs as he put his arm around Griffin's shoulders. "When my mom was still in jail, even up to a few months ago and people would say things it would make me angry and want to stop them any way I could. Even if that meant getting into a fight."

"Really?" Griffin looks up in surprise.

"Yeah really. I'm human and have feelings and it hurt to hear those things. I would get angry and sometimes Chief Boden or Uncle Kelly would have to hold me back or remind me that it wasn't worth it, to stoop to their level. If I did stoop to their level I usually felt guilty afterward. It wouldn't change their opinion of me or my mom and fighting with them would only give them one more thing to laugh at me about."

"But I want them to stop."

"I know you do and the talk will die down; just waiting can be painful. Do you want me to talk to your teach about anyone in particular?"

"No," Griffin shrugs. "Maybe it'll die down like you said."

"Okay but if not then you let me know okay? I'm sorry they say those things but it's still new for them and kids can be cruel. But don't let them get to you okay?"

"Okay."

"And if it doesn't you tell me and we'll go to your teacher together okay? They need to be aware of stuff like this."

"Okay," Griffin replies with a softer smile, his tension starting to ease.

"And I'd like to come and talk to both your's and Ben's teachers, get to know them a bit better. They know the situation but it would help for them to see that I'm an active part of your life and interested in your education. Would that be okay?"

"I'd like that."

"Me too," Casey gives Griffin a hug. "Thought maybe tomorrow we'd all spend the day working in the yard, getting all the fall leaves and such cleaned up. Maybe have a few over for a barbeque later. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like fun," Griffin replies warmly.

"Good."

You're going to be an excellent father Matt…Severide's mind silently muses as he pulls away from the entrance to the living room and quietly sneaks upstairs to tuck Ben in; knowing that it would be Casey's strength and determination to make this work that would ultimately help the makeshift family succeed.

Later that night, Casey lies awake in bed, his weary eyes fixed on the darkness outside the window, his mind too awake to even contemplate sleep. He had had a small brush with danger thanks to Kevin Hadley but knows inside that Severide's words are true – he wouldn't stop until someone was dead. We have to get that name…we need a place to start looking, his mind muses as he finally rolls onto his side. A family and friends barbeque, tricking Boden to get the name, a private investigation into a dangerous opponent, parent teacher interviews, extracurricular activities, school issues and growing pains between him and Kelly as now shared parents. And through it all he had to somehow keep two innocent boys safe and clueless to the possible life ending danger they all were facing.

The road ahead would be dangerous. Would they succeed?

A/N: Okay so am building up the story about Hadley, b/c the writers had such a great opportunity to show us more but didn't *alas*. I also want to interject a few more moments with our boys and their boys. So will our boys get the name? And if so where will it take them? And to who? A few surprises await! And of course you know Hadley won't go quietly into the night so what dangers are waiting? Did you like the game of RISK? Hahah come on Casey sitting at home pining for Dawson was sad/pathetic at best! We need more bromance for stuff like that! Kelly should have been there (okay mini rant over haha) Lots a head so I hope you're all still liking this and please do review before you go and thanks!

PS: Hope you all liked the last little hilarious adventure with our boys and George! :)