Alright everyone. I feel like I've done this before: I've been awful to you. I didn't update and that was wrong of me, but I had more writer's block and this chapter is sort of short and it sucks anyway. I can't say sorry because it won't do much.

I will respond to questions again starting with responses to this chapter, unless the number of ones up 'till now isn't too much and too overwhelming.

I am sorry, the ending sucks, but I think it gives me at least a little material for the next chapter in which case I want to say it'll go up sooner and quicker than this one did, and it will, but I'm weary about getting your hopes up.

I meant to end this on a better cliffhanger- I'm sure you all know who it is but oh well.

Any suggestions?

Questions?

Points to ponder?

Let me know

Enjoy,

~T

Her legs were burning; but the fire running through her veins wouldn't let her stop. Her rapid heartbeat pounded harshly against her ribcage, her stomach had a cramping feeling to it. Her mind was still a jumble, a tear left a cold mark as it traveled down her cheek. A semi-familiar park loomed a few hundred yards ahead and that's exactly where her mind set its destination. Her legs stretched further out in front of her, her arms pumped faster, and she didn't slow down until she crashed into the setup and collapsed to the ground and began to sob.

Why did she feel like she had to hide? Was she really so ashamed with her body-image so as not to let any pair of eyes roam her body like a museum exhibit? She didn't feel like having people poke and probe at her skin- her hurt, damaged skin. The scars on her legs were just so gross and disgusting and they shouldn't even be there. They were long, jagged, raised and nearly white; they stood out on her caramel skin and there wouldn't be a soul in the world that wouldn't stare at them if they caught sight. She hid them in the studio, and in the gym; she didn't wear shorts or dresses or skirts unless she was wearing leggings or stockings.

Were they really that bad? Yes… yes they were. But why did she have to hide them from her family? From Antonio, who seemed to care more about work than he did about her; from her sister, who failed to notice nearly everything until it was thrown in her face; from Shay, whom she's felt close to for a lot of her life. Why did she hide them from the firehouse family? Because… because if she couldn't show them to anyone else, she couldn't bare them to that family. The studio family? Because… no one in the dance industry is going to give her first if something so aesthetically unappealing is screaming at them to look. She wore leggings to class and practice, and always wore mesh on her legs in competitions. There was no one…

Her mind cleared slightly and she heard very heavy, fast footfall. There was the light clanking of metal on metal and the sound of material rubbing against itself. Those sounds faded and a new one replaced it- the sound of big boots and the same heavy feet on playground bark. She tensed, not knowing what to think. The sound stopped not too far away; she looked up- it was Matt.

"You've got some stamina built into you" he said as he panted and took the last few steps towards her before lowering himself next to her about two feet away. She felt him look over at her, "Can I ask?" He said.

She nodded, "It was a flashback and a nightmare all rolled into one terrifyingly real sensation." She turned her head to meet his eyes, "What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"I care about you more than you think. I feel like a big brother who's taken on a paternal role in your life. I don't know how you see me but… it won't change the way I feel. I had to make sure someone was looking out for you, the firehouse isn't necessarily stationed in a great neighborhood." He told her.

"I'm sorry I wigged out on you" she told him, looking down at her lap. Another tear went cold as it left her eye.

"Hey, hey, hey" he said, scooting himself into the gap between them and lifting her chin to have her eyes meet his, "Every single person in that firehouse knows that something like that could happen, and we've seen it before. What happened today means nothing to me or anyone else. I don't look at you any differently than I did before. I don't feel pity, because it isn't what you need; I feel more and more respect that you seem to want to spare everyone from having to deal with anything that you feel you're dealing with." He said to her, "But no one has ever not wanted to listen. No matter what it is that you're talking about, anyone in there is going to listen to what you have to say." She sniffled.

He pulled her into his side and kissed the top of her head, "Uncle matt?" She said.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks" she told him simply.

He replied with another simple kiss to the top of her head. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and sent a text to Gaby that she was alright.

"You wanna go back now?" he asked. It took her a moment of hesitation before nodding her agreement and he held out his hand for her once he was up. As they began to walk, she reached for his hands and grasped it in her small one. They walked on the sidewalk, both knowing that it would take half an hour to get there. Matt would be in trouble if they got a call and he wasn't there, so he could only pray that he got back with enough time to hear the bell and run back into action.

The firehouse loomed into view and they stopped across the street to wait for the cars to clear and he took her across. As they walked through the doors, the bell rang. There was a plane crash in the middle of Chicago. A plane! Everyone sped out and Emily was definitely left to sit this one out.

She didn't expect them to return soon; but two hours seemed like a really long time. She had felt the guilt clinging to her heart like cat hair on a jacket. She brought her phone to her ear and waited for it to stop ringing so she could hear the voice she'd been longing to hear for weeks.

"Dawson" it said. It was husky like her sister's, but it was deep and soothing.

"Tony?" she squeaked, tears dancing in her eyes.

"M'hija, mi bebé" he called into the phone, "Are you alright?" his voice was thick, the Latino influence dripping from his every word.

"I'm sorry" she managed, before her eyes squeezed shut and she sputtered a cry into the receiver of the phone.

"I'm coming again m'hija, I'll be there soon yes?" he asked.

She could only nod, unable to talk into the phone, "Mona?" he asked, sounding slightly panicked, "Mona, are you okay? I'm on my way, I'm in the car, you hold on for me. I have to go Mona, te amo…" he told and the line clicked dead.

She collapsed against the wall and hugged her knees tight to her chest. She waited, tears rolling lightly, one after the other, down her cheeks.

She heard the door slam shut, his shout into the firehouse calling for her, but she couldn't register the fact that he was there until she was being lifted into the air. She pulled her knees up, waiting to attach her legs around his waist and close her arms behind his neck and clutch his collar to her nose and breathe in the scent of her brother that had missing from her life for nearly two and a half months.

"Oh Mona" he whispered, sighing a breath of relief into her neck. His shoulders had tensed with the effort of lifting her, and then remained that way as he supported her for a moment. His shoulders relaxed and took a deep breath, his nose pressed sideways against her hair and her ear.

"Oh baby" he sighed, dropping to one knee to better keep himself composed. He held her- just held her. There was nothing more he wanted to do than to just hold her, kiss her, love her, and be back in her life.

They sat for a few moments to get themselves together before he moved them to the couch.

"Te extrañé ... tanto" she whispered into his chest.

"I know M'jiha… I know" he whimpered, feeling awful about it.

She fell asleep within ten minutes, and all he felt he could do was sit there and not disturb her. Carefully, holding her head to the crook of his neck, he transported them to the couch. He laid her down and positioned himself under her head to allow his lap to be a pillow for her. She stirred slightly and settled back, but not before shivering violently. He noticed the goose-bumps rising rapidly and prominently on her arms and sat forward carefully retrieve the blanket on the back of the couch to cover her with.

The only thing he did for the last half hour it took the men to come back was watch her sleep. He watched his baby sleep for the first time in what felt like forever. He stroked her hair back, dry by now and only slightly sticky from the sweat from her run; but he didn't care, she went from yelling at him to calling him for help in a matter of hours. She was his again.

She'd been asleep for thirty minutes when the trucks pulled back into the garage. Cruz was first through the door, followed by Otis, Hermann, Hadley, Mills, Casey, and then Severide. They all looked a little torn on what to do until it came to Casey and Severide; They stopped short, looked at each other and turned dramatically on their heels when Gaby walked in, laughing at something Shay had apparently just said.

She stopped laughing the moment she laid eyes on Emily lying in Antonio's arms.

He gave his defense quickly, "She called me"

She didn't believe him, "Look at her phone Gaby, she called me. I swear it to you" he told her, "No estoy mintiendo"

She grabbed her sister's phone and was almost slightly baffled at the sight of the key pad that filled the screen and the request for a password. She looked up at him in shock and he pointed to his phone sitting on the floor where he had settled with her at first. She grabbed it, and looked at the very first call on the log: it was Emily and it was incoming. He was telling the truth.

"Why did she call?" Gaby asked him.

"She told me she was sorry and that she was scared because you guys weren't back yet. She needed someone and I didn't mean to be so distant for so long." He explained.

She nodded, "Fine" And sat next to him.

"She has bruises" Gaby said. Matt overheard and looked worriedly to Severide. "They're from dance- which we also didn't know about" She finished.

Antonio looked at her, "How bad?"

"I saw the one on her hip. It wraps around and blotches all up her side. She's got little ones all over her back too; like she falls ON something when she falls."

"I wish I could tell you how to help" he told her, looking at her with sad eyes.

"I can talk to Abby if you want. She's a brilliant mind but she has her flaws with her teaching style. But I'll see what she has to say." Shay interjected.

Gaby looked up in surprise at her blond-haired best friend. She hadn't been expecting her to suddenly appear that way. She nodded her thanks and watched as Shay walked away.

Antonio's radio buzzed and he sighed, let his head flop back, and gave a half-hearted, disbelieving chuckle that this had to happen at this very moment. He shook his head and looked down at the radio.

Severide was over in a matter of seconds to pull the girl from his arms. He tried to make the transfer easy on her and held her head in place the whole way into his muscular chest and Antonio stood, placed a kiss on her forehead, whispered something in her ear, and turned to Gaby.

Though she was still mad that he was gone for so long as to elicit this strange reaction from her sister, she couldn't deny that she still loved him. She moved in for a hug and he held on to her tightly, not wanting to let go for all he was worth. But when the radio buzzed again, he pulled himself away, planted another kiss on her cheek and turned his back to walk away- feeling a better vibe from the guys as he did so this time.

She woke up an hour later to a quiet firehouse. A feeling of panic twisted its way up her throat as she found herself in an unfamiliar room. She familiarized herself with it quickly and noticed the name on the door belonged to Severide. She was in his room, without him; she was never in his room.

She got up slowly and carefully and made her way out the door and into a very silent firehouse. The only noise was the faint murmur of the television in the common room and she followed it right to there. She looked around- a cell phone on the coffee table, a cooling cup of coffee next to it, a newspaper strewn uncaringly somewhere else. That was the only sign that they may have left in a hurry- but she wasn't afraid of that.

Her hair had dried completely now, and because she had been rolling all over a pillow, had a gorgeous curl to it that she didn't have the heart to brush out. She was still wearing the yoga pants she slipped on after her shower, and was feeling hot, so instead of turning down the heat in the house or getting into shorts-something she hadn't done in a very long time without having dancer's mesh or leggings or makeup on- she pulled off her t-shirt and threw it into her bag. She'd figured if she could be the real Emily Rose Dawson, she could wear just a tank-top.

She settled on the couch and changed the channel, ending up watching a rerun of 'Glee'. The next thing that happened scared her half to death. There were never any visitors to the firehouse while the trucks were visibly out unless you were well-known or expected to be there. So, when the door in the back corridor chunked shut and Emily wasn't expecting someone, it would have been the biggest understatement of the century to say her heart started to pound.

Emily took quick advantage of her situation. The blinds were shut, the sound from the television was low enough to turn it out without any suspicion, and she wasn't far from the lights so she could quickly jump up and shut them out. So that's exactly what she did: she grabbed the remote and clicked the power button, she grabbed her phone, jumped up and shut off the lights before moving to the kitchen and finally utilizing the knife block.

She pulled out the longest, sharpest knife there was there. She ducked under the counter and waited, listening and trying to keep her vitals from going absolutely insane.

When the click of high heels could be heard from the hallway, Emily became confused. The guys never brought girls unless they were expecting on showcasing them, and they surely would have alerted them if they had gotten a call. She didn't know why she was having this reaction, but it was happening and she couldn't help it.

"Hello?" the voice attached to the heels called.

She knew that voice, it was familiar. For some reason though, it didn't make her feel any better. It was a voice she had decided she wasn't totally interested in seeing again, a voice she hadn't felt like hearing anymore, and a face she didn't know if she could handle seeing again.

"Hello?" it called again. It was somewhat high, it was slightly nasally, and it sounded like it came from the back of her throat in a pocket of sorts, one with not a lot of breathing room. This was the only way she could describe the way it sounded.

That voice had hurt her in a way it hadn't meant to. She knew the woman didn't mean to hurt her, but she couldn't get past the fact that it did because it left. Now these memories were digging to the forefront of her mind and Emily certainly didn't want them there. And now these memories were making her nervous and her heart beat just a little faster. She felt her forehead start to sweat, her hands got clammy, her stomach churned and the wheezing started- completely giving up her location.

This woman would get an eyeful of the scared preteen with wide eyes, slick skin, racing pulse and tearful eyes. It would be a sight to see and she was glad she wouldn't have to see it for herself.

Okay… translations

Te extrañé ... tanto- I missed you so much

No estoy mintiendo: I'm not lying