I know it's been a long time. I know this is a short chapter. But I felt like I had to give you something before the next… or while I'm looking for what to write and putting it on the computer.

She felt like her brain had shut down and she suddenly got quiet. The heels clicking through the house would also suddenly have a harder time finding her. She stared out of her nook with her brows drawn together in misplaced terror and wide, teary eyes. Her mouth was dropped open as if preparing a scream though her breathing had silenced. She held the knife in front of her, but kept her elbow plastered to her side. Her chest heaved and she began to sweat. The figure came into the kitchen and was now within her line of sight and her heartbeat pounded louder in her ear as it skyrocketed.

The woman turned all the way around and repeated "Hello…" her voice dropped the 'o' as she made eye contact with Emily.

"Emily?" she asked. It had been a while since she'd seen the little girl at least two years ago.

Her grip tightened on the knife and she could feel the Goosebumps on her arm as she got sweaty enough to feel like she'd stepped out of a pool only half-wet.

"Emily? Are you- what's?" she couldn't form her sentence. "Come on out sweetie… come on" she coaxed. She was smart- Emily had to give her that; she did things out of order. She was calling her out of the hiding spot first before asking her to put down the weapon.

"Come on Em… no one's going to hurt you honey. Especially not me." She told her.

Emily pulled herself from her hiding spot and stood out in the open across from this pregnant woman. How could no one tell her she was back? How did they keep that from her? She was good at keeping secrets but even better at figuring out everyone else's.

"Put the knife down sweetie" she told her. It was down by her side now- not as immediate a threat as it had been when she held it at the ready.

Her jaw quivered and her brows pulled together even more and they were both unsure of where her emotions were coming from being so strong. Her chest hitched as it usually did when she was crying.

The woman inched forward on her, advancing slowly. When she reached Emily, she studied her for a moment, drinking in the beauty she had developed in at least the two years since she'd seen her. Then she caught her eyes and held the contact with them as she reached down and crabbed the base of the knife and pulled it from her grasp.

She placed it on the counter and then placed a hand on the tops of both her arms and pulled her close. Emily didn't fight her, she didn't have the heart to retreat away from comfort she knew she definitely needed.

She began to sob and wrapped her arms around this woman. This woman who hadn't meant to break her heart but definitely had when she put her auntie into a downward spiral drowned in liquor and sorrow.

She hugged her because she couldn't resist the comfort Clarice's arms used to bring to her. But then she pushed Clarice away and her face went hard. Clarice looked confused as she stared into Emily's hazy, clouded, different-colored eyes.

"Emily? You okay?" she asked her softly.

Emily's chest hitched and bounced with her erratic breathing, her eyes began to water, and her emotions spiraled downwards once more.

"Come here" Clarice slowly, carefully pulled the girl into her chest and hugged her around the shoulder blades.

But her emotions changed quickly again and she pushed Clarice away again.

"NO!" she screamed, backing away, her tears ceasing immediately.

"Emily" Clarice demanded, her voice hardening and taking on a parental, reprimanding tone.

"NO!" she screamed again, "You don't get to do that anymore either!" she continued.

"You left! You don't get to come back!" she went on.

"Emily…" her voice retreated, like a wounded puppy.

"You don't get to back as the heroin, to come back to the rescue! You don't get to ride up on your white horse and save the day and take the credit!"

Her fists began to clench and unclench, the muscles in her arms rippled and outlined and hardened. Her heart continued to pound, her chest heaving.

Clarice heard the garage doors, heard the ambulance pull in, felt the rumble of the trucks in her feet up through her legs and her spine. Emily seemed completely unfazed, as though her sole mission was to simultaneously tell Clarice everything she had felt and make her feel as bad as possible.

"You don't get to come back like this and get old privileges back! When I wanted to go see auntie Shay, I had to sit on the bed in the next room while my Gaby peeled her off the floor and gave her activated charcoal to cough the pills back up!" she screamed , "I had to ride to the hospital one time because she had alcohol poisoning!" her fury was showing.

The men had heard the yelling and rushed through the doors.

"When I wanted to see Aunt Claire, she wasn't there!" Shay and Gaby filed in and stood to watch their sister fall apart, "They had to explain to me how you upped and left! Gone without a damn trace or a goodbye! You broke my sister's heart! Seeing her like that broke my heart! But you broke it directly too! I loved you Clarice! I trusted you!"

Matt watched as her buckled knees swayed and trembled: "So no! You don't get to come back like this!" she seemed to finish. Her voice hit new extremes as she hurtled back groundwards. Matt caught her just in time and pulled her out of the kitchen, holding her arms to her writhing body as he took her out the door to get some air. They left Clarice standing in the kitchen, shell-shocked, with her glossy eyes trained on the floor; everyone's stares directed at her.

She screamed in pain as Matt brought her out of the firehouse. The slam of the door then registered with Severide and he angrily opened the fridge and grabbed a biohazard box before rushing after Matt, now standing in the middle of the garage with a flailing Emily.

Matt held her arms together across her chest, struggling against her apparent strength. Severide bent down in front of her, the dog trotting up next to him and giving out a loud whine. Kelly looked up at Matt's pinched face, concentrating on keeping Emily together. What he didn't know was that he was the one causing her to struggle. Kelly set the box on the ground and placed a hand on each of her hips, trying to steady her so he could give her her medicine. She screamed louder, tears flowing fast and freely down her cheeks.

Kelly's face twisted and he looked up to Matt in alarm. He snapped out of it quickly and pulled the side of Emily's tank top halfway up her stomach. Her bruised hip came into view, but he ignored it for the moment that he needed to give the little girl her medicine. His heart raced in his chest as he administered it; none of the guys ever gave her her medicine in her hip, they always did in her arm to respect the line. But this time, it seemed important to Kelly that he know what was happening. This long needed to end and it did: it ended as Matt lowered Emily to the concrete just seconds before the bell rang from inside the house.

I'm an awful person. I'm leaving it at that. I think I'm going to try to wrap this up in the next and last chapter and start a sequel. That might take a while because I want to write a few chapters before I start posting them so I have optimum time to keep writing and not disappoint my readers like I've been doing for a few of my stories. But here. I feel like I need to skip to the next season because I'm running out of ideas for season one.

I know I promised you one idea, also, in the summary, but I might make those flashbacks during her recovery in season/story 2. Let me know. I think I'm definitely going to start a new story though. So I'm really sorry about all of this waiting. I'll try to get as much done as I can, and if the next chapter is getting to be too rushed, I'll split it into what it needs to split into.