RACE AGAINST TIME
AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER
Takes place during the crossover with Yates but Shay's alive. Just an idea that I had. Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and SVU belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I only own the newer plot.
Nadia smiled as the man gave her the box holding the cake and she handed the money to him.
"Thanks," she said.
"Yeah of course. Hope your friend has a good birthday," the clerk stated.
"Thanks. I'm sure she will," the young woman said. She then went out to her car and put the cake in the back seat before smiling at Kelly.
"Thanks for this," she said.
"Not a problem. You're our girl," he responded as he headed out and Nadia smiled. 'Our girl'. It felt nice when he, Jay, and Erin called her that because she knew that it wasn't sexual but used in a brother and sister type of way. And with that guy Yates still out there, she was feeling kind of nervous, especially with the way he had looked at her in the precinct. As Nadia got into the car, Kelly watched her protectively. He couldn't blame her for being nervous with that freak Yates out there and she couldn't ask Jay or Erin because she was picking up Erin's birthday cake and they didn't want her to get suspicious or finding out about the cake early. "So let's get this cake into the precinct," he said sitting in the driver's seat as she buckled herself in. She smiled at him and he drove back to the station, where he parked right in front of the door. Then, they both got out and she picked up the box as the firefighter came to stand beside her.
"Hello." Seeing Yates, Nadia froze. Shit, she thought to herself. Kelly saw the coming fist before she did and quickly caught it, positioning himself in front of Nadia, causing the man, Greg Yates, to scowl as he was pinned to the car. This was unacceptable! Who did this man think he was, getting in between him and his intended? Does he have any idea what I could do to him? the man wondered as he threw non-verbal daggers at the firefighter.
"Nadia, go!" The quick command seemed to wake the girl up and she hurried inside. Well, that's disappointing, Yates thought to himself. Well, fine, then. Plan B. Since this interloper had interrupted him, he'd just have to take the girl's place. Moving quickly, the man slammed the firefighter on the forehead with his own head, causing the other man to stumble and then he punched him in the face, knocking him out. Yates quickly caught the man, reached into his pockets to take the keys, pressed a button on the keys, and put him in the trunk of the car, shut the trunk, and then took off. Inside the precinct, Nadia had just dropped box holding the cake and ran up to where the officers were talking about the case and how he had left his phone in a basement next to some nail polish and a lighter.
"He's here! He has Kelly!" she exclaimed frantically.
"Whoa. Calm down. Tell us what happened," Hank said, sitting her down in a chair.
"I-I had to run an errand but I didn't want to be alone so I-I checked Erin's contacts and called Kelly Severide from Fifty-One to ask to him to come with me. When we came back, Yates was there. He tried to attack me. Kelly stopped him," Nadia responded. Kelly, Erin thought to herself as Jay pulled out his phone and pressed the speed-dial for the firefighter's number, which he had gotten from Erin due to the fact that they had had a few cases overlap with stuff that Fifty-One had responded to.
"Straight to voicemail," he reported. I don't like this, he thought to himself. If that psycho had Kelly, then…No! He couldn't think like that. He had to be positive. There was no reason to believe that Severide had been taken. Pulling herself together, Erin dialed Fifty-One's number.
"This is Connie. How may I direct your call?" she heard.
"Hey, Connie. It's Erin. Is Kelly there or is he at a call?" She asked, trying to keep her voice composed. Maybe he had gotten away and Nadia's panic was for nothing. He's okay. He has to be, she thought to herself. Kelly was tough. She was sure he had gotten away. Kelly was pretty tough and he could fight. However, she couldn't shake the bad feeling that she had.
"No, he got called out to help someone from your precinct. Nadia, I believe her name was. He'll probably be back any minute," Connie responded. I'm surprised that he didn't tell her with how close they are, the woman thought to herself. But maybe they had had a fight or something.
"Okay, thank you," Erin replied. Damn it! her mind screamed. She had been hoping that she'd be wrong.
"I can try to reach him if you need me to," the woman offered.
"No, no. That's all right. I was just calling to say hi." With that, the detective hung up before the woman could ask any questions and she turned to the others. Seeing her distraught expression, Jay walked up to her and pulled her close.
"We're going to find him. Yates won't get him. We won't let him." She nodded at the murmured words, trying to hold onto them. Kelly would be okay. They would find him in time. There was no way Yates was going to him from her. She wouldn't allow it.
"This is all my fault. He was protecting me. If I hadn't asked him to come with me, then-" Nadia began to say. I should've just gone alone. If I had, this wouldn't be happening, she thought miserably. What had she been thinking? By asking the firefighter to go with her, she had put him directly into Yates' line of fire. Erin probably hated her now.
"Then Yates would've taken you," Hank interrupted.
"But-"
"No, listen to me. You did good in making sure you weren't alone with this guy running around out there. That was smart. It saved your life. We're going to get Severide back. Now we're gonna need someone to set up a civilian hotline to keep track of tips. You think you're up for it?" At this, Nadia nodded. I can do this. Kelly needs me, she thought. "It's okay if you're not. Trudy can man the phones if need be." I don't want her working if she needs the time off, he thought to himself. Sure, he wasn't the most sensitive of men, but he was well aware that something this traumatic would leave its mark on a person and he wanted Nadia to feel free to deal with whatever she was feeling.
"No Sarge, I can do this. I have to do this." Hank nodded. Gotta admit, I'm impressed, he thought to himself. She was shaken up-scared as hell even-and yet she was ready to go to work.
"Okay, I'll have Mouse assist you. Two heads are better than one." Plus this way, she wouldn't be alone. He could feel the girl shaking even though she was trying to keep it together.
"You got it." She wasn't going to let Kelly down. And she wouldn't let Erin down either. She could do this. Like she said, she had to do this. The only reason Kelly had been grabbed by Yates was because he had been protecting her and she wasn't going to just let him stay at this guy's mercy. With that, she went to work, putting the hotline together. Don't worry, Kelly. We'll get you back. Erin and Jay are on the case and so am I, she thought to herself. Living with Erin for the past year, she was quite aware of the relationship between that had developed between the female detective and the firehouse lieutenant and she knew that she'd be devastated if anything happened to him. She blew out a breath and steeled her shoulders. She wasn't going to think like that. They were going to find Kelly alive and they would take Yates down. But it was hard to focus as Kelly had become a friend and she had never thought that she would have to go through something like this again. Okay, focus. She needed to focus. She had the hotline set up and Intelligence was out looking for Kelly. It would be fine. It had to be. After he was called, Mouse came to join her, sitting next to her.
"Don't worry. We'll get him back," he assured and she nodded.
"I know," she said. As the two continued to set up the tip hotline, Jay, Erin, Amanda and Nick hit the streets while the rest of Intelligence chased down other leads. Jay looked at Erin, taking her hand and pulling her close.
"We'll get him back and then we'll show Yates what happens to people who mess with our friends," he murmured.
"But what if-?" her question died off as she fought a wave of panic. She couldn't lose Kelly! She just couldn't!
"Don't think like that. You of all people know how stubborn he is," he responded quietly and she nodded. Jay was right. Kelly was too stubborn to let some jackass like Yates get the best of him. He'd be fine. He would be able to hold on until they got to him. And they would find him. And like Jay said, they would show Greg Yates just what happened to people who messed with her boy. Her eyes flashed with determination as she and Jay went to one side of the neighborhood to ask questions, neither one noticing when Nick and Amanda glanced at each other.
"Is it just me or was that kinda-" she began to ask.
"Weird? Yeah, it was," he responded. It's almost like they have a personal reason for wanting to get this Kelly guy back, he thought to himself. He could've sworn that the two detectives had something going, but from the way they were acting, it was more like Lindsay and the missing firefighter had something while Halstead was just a friend. But he was acting all worried too. Why? Then again, it was probably just a really good friend, so the worry made sense. Pushing the thought aside, they also went out to canvass the area. However, the search ended up with no one getting anything and they all reconvened at the precinct.
"He could be anywhere," Erin worried and Jay placed his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them reassuringly, ignoring the look Voight shot him. Yes, he was crazy about Erin and hated the fact that she had chosen Kelly, but this was different. Erin needed comfort from a friend and he was going to give it to her. Meanwhile, in the back of the trunk that he had been placed in, Kelly jerked awake even as the car ran over a bump. Where the hell am I? he wondered, blinking, his eyes trying to adjust to the dim light. And why was his mouth so dry? He went to run his tongue over his lips with the intention of wetting them, only to feel something sticky. Duct-tape. That would account for the dryness in his mouth. He then grunted as there was another thud. A car. He was in a car. And from the sound of the engine, it was Erin's. And if this was Erin's car, that meant it had a safety hatch that he could open. Okay, think, he thought to himself. He just had to find it. He went to move an arm and-found that he couldn't. From the feel of it, they had been tied behind him. Bastard, he thought to himself. He went to lift his legs and his eyes flashed angrily when he saw that they had been taped together. Okay, fine. He could still work with this. He scrunched himself up even more than he already was and started banging on the back of the car as much as he could. Granted, he didn't have a whole lot of room to maneuver, but it was better than doing nothing. He just had to hope that his actions would give him the result that he wanted. Come on! Please! he thought. There was no way he was letting this guy keep him. But then again, at least he didn't have Nadia…right? Oh crap. He hoped not. As he kept up his actions, the car slowed and he could feel his pulse racing, though he couldn't be sure if it was from hope or fear. Hearing the murmured sound of Yates talking to someone, Kelly banged his feet on the trunk, hoping to catch the other person's attention. Please let this work, he thought to himself. He heard the other person's voice raise-probably asking Yates what was going-and then nothing. What? he thought to himself. Had it worked? The trunk opened and the firefighter felt his heart rise hopefully. Was he saved? He then let out a muffled cry of distress when he saw Yates smirking.
"That was a good try," he told him. "But you know, just not good enough," he continued, holding up a knife. At the sight of the blood, Kelly's eyes widened and he raised his legs and went to kick the weapon out of the man's hands. However, Yates saw the incoming attack and grabbed his legs, and before Kelly could react, stabbed the firefighter in his right leg, resulting in a cry of pain. Shit! That hurt! he thought to himself. "I'm going to enjoy playing with you," he smirked. I'll teach him what happens to people who cross me, he thought to himself. Sure he had never taken a male before as he preferred girls who were young, short, and brunette, but this man was the exception. He had kept him from his target and had to be taught a lesson. After he disposed of him, he'd come back for the one that he really wanted. "Now then, whatta ya say we continue on our way? Oh, and if you fight me again, I'll come back for Nadia." With that, the man slammed the trunk shut and within a few moments, Kelly felt the car moving again. Damn it! he thought. He had been so sure it would've worked. And now thanks to the bleeding, he would have to stay as still as possible. Erin...please find me, he thought to himself as he tried to resist moving around. He wasn't sure how much longer he could last.