Severide woke on the second 24 of his 48 hours off to a message from Anna on his phone. It was short, sweet and directly to the point just like Severide was hoping. Meet me at it read, followed by an address of a nearby restaurant. It was fancier than he usually frequented, preferring diner's or bars but he knew it well enough. He muffled his relieved exclamation into his pillow, checked the time and rolled out of bed to get ready.
Anna was exactly as gorgeous as he remembered, even at a distance; long dark hair that complimented her equally dark skin that Severide knew from experience shined under even the dimmest of lights. Her rich brown eyes flickered with a knowing intelligence as he sauntered closer to her perch at the bar. He spied a steaming coffee waiting for him on the countertop and hid his grin at the sight.
"Hey," he said, leaning in for a perfunctory kiss on the cheek before taking a seat on the stool next to her.
"I almost died when your name came up on my phone," she chuckled and leant back in her seat to regard him curiously. Her voice was as husky as he remembered and he couldn't help but recall how she'd sounded moaning his name in ecstasy.
"Yeah? Well I'm glad you didn't," he said, turning up the charm and pushing away all thoughts of their weekend together. Instead he focussed on what he'd come to get.
"Are you still fighting fires?"
"Yeah, most of the time."
"We were good together," Anna said and the coyness behind her smile told Severide in what sense she meant.
"Sure. We had our moments."
"The coat room at the Drake?" she asked with an eyebrow raise.
Severide swallowed thickly at the memory and forced a chuckle. "Definitely a moment."
The two lapsed into silence while Severide deliberated his next words. He didn't want this to feel like a drug deal between friends but he was fast running out of options. He'd much rather offend Anna, someone he hadn't seen in years and probably wouldn't have seen ever again than risk losing a close friend like Shay.
"I have a favour to ask you, Anna." Severide didn't want to let it get to serious yet but the darkness of his voice betrayed him.
Anna's smile dimmed slightly but she nodded slowly as though she'd expected this, regarding him carefully before finally pursing her lips. "I knew there was going to be a catch," she said finally and sipped at her coffee.
Severide found himself again searching for the words, trying to explain in the best possible way what he needed but Anna beat him to it.
"I'm staying at the Peninsula. Conference bullshit for the next three days. Pick a night and ask me for your favour then."
They both heard the implications in her words, both knew what she was asking him to do and both were sure that he would most likely do it. After all Severide had never turned down sex with a beautiful woman no matter the motives behind it. Anna grinned, looking precisely like a cat that ate the canary, downed the remainder of her coffee and kissed him once more before striding away, leaving only the smell of coffee beans and expensive perfume behind.
Casey had been expecting the worry when he returned and the occupants of house 51 didn't disappoint from the moment he stepped foot inside the threshold. He knew from looking at himself in the mirror that the bruises and cuts still stood out starkly against his fair complexion and he could feel the stiffness in his limbs as he walked, trying to not to limp or wince.
His truck company apprehended him quickly express their concern, each obviously having expected him to take the shift off. He waved away their unease immediately though, ready to work to get his mind off it and ordered them to get started on their duties while he got changed out.
Severide blinked up in surprise at him as he walked by and was on his feet and following him before Casey could speak. The two walked in silence for a few paces, neither seeming willing to talk first or even so much as look at the other.
"You alright?" Severide asked at last.
"Fine," Casey answered shortly, yet not unkindly. He figured Boden had called Severide to let him know what had gone down since he hadn't said anything to the other Lieutenant.
Severide remained quiet as Casey intercepted Dawson's brother who was wielding a folder of mugshots for Casey to look at and directed him towards one of the conference rooms. Even after he had Casey's attention again he still didn't know what to say. He knew his mouth was opening and closing soundlessly and that he probably looked like an idiot but he still couldn't figure out what he wanted to say.
Casey didn't press Severide as the man tried to sort out his thoughts and merely stood there waiting and wondering idly if he too was going to tell him to take the shift off. Knowing Casey well however, Severide simply said, "Let me know if you need anything." Casey didn't think Severide looked completely satisfied with that but the man had clapped a hand to his shoulder and walked off again before Casey could question him on it.
Casey's injuries hadn't required many stitches but those that did pulled painfully as he got changed. It wasn't anywhere near the worst thing he'd ever felt - physically at least, that would probably be reserved for the ceaseless agony of blistering skin when he sustained burns - but still Casey found himself gritting his teeth against any potential noises he made. He changed quickly, slammed his locker shut and limped back out, not wanting to keep Antonio waiting any longer.
Antonio waited until Casey was seated to start talking. "The guys who assaulted you have a record, guaranteed," he said and slid the folder across the table to him, gesturing for him to open it. "Which mean they've been processed and we have those tats on file. See if you can recall one of those."
Casey opened the hard cover, uncovering pages upon pages of mugshots, with corresponding photographs of tattoos beside them. He rubbed a hand across his eyes, tired from a sleepless night and began to flip through.
"Sorry to interrupt," Dawson said as she poked her head around the doorway. "Just got to grab my stuff."
Casey nodded a hello before focussing back on the photos before him. The fight was little more than a blur in his head now, the adrenaline coursing through him having wiped most of the defining characteristics. Still Casey thought he had a general idea about the tattoo on the man's arm after spending hours the day before straining his memory.
He was interrupted again barely ten pages in by the buzzing of his phone in his pocket. Normally he would let it go straight to voicemail and ring the person back later but Hallie's name flashed back at him and all he could think of for a moment was the sight of her worried face an ignored call was bound to conjure.
"I gotta take this," Casey said to Antonio, a hint of an apology in his tone as he stood, stretching his stiff muscles and stepped away from the Dawson siblings. "Hi," he said into the phone.
"I, um, I'm just holding to our agreement. Just checking in with you." Hallie's voice sounded tired and small over the phone and Casey closed his eyes against the rising feeling of angry, hopelessness that his fiancee was feeling like this and he couldn't do anything about it. "You ok?" she continued oblivious to Casey's inner turmoil.
"Just looking at photographs of tattoos," Casey replied. He knew that it wasn't quite the answer she was looking for but it would have to do instead of explaining his mixed emotions.
"You never know," she said.
"That's right."
"I love you," Hallie said and Casey frowned at the tiredness in her tone. He hadn't noticed it at the time but looking back over the last few days he could see now the toll the situation with Voight had taken on her.
"I love you too," he replied, unaware of the audience he suddenly had in the room. "Hey tomorrow we'll go out alright. Forget about all the Voight drama for a little bit."
He could almost hear smile over the phone line when she responded. "Sounds great, Matt. I'll talk to you in a bit?" There was a pause, then, "Do this the right way. Or I might have to come down there."
Casey heard the joke in her voice at the end and despite his tiredness tried to lift his voice similarly. "So maybe the right way isn't so right."
Hallie chuckled softly. "Maybe not."
The blare of the alarm sounded through the station and Hallie fell silent on the other end of the call as they both listened to the call.
"Ambulance 61, head injury…"
Casey tuned out when he wasn't needed for the call and said a quick goodbye to Hallie, all too aware of Antonio waiting for him. Going through the mug shots and pictures of tattoo was time consuming and boring work and ate up much of Casey's morning but by the time he'd finished going through the copious pages he'd picked out more than a few viable suspects and tattoos that Antonio promised to chase up. He waved the detective off and settled in for the relatively slow shift that was to come.
Severide caught up with Anna the next night after their shift ended. The sex was good as always but Severide couldn't fully enjoy it with the searing pain in his shoulder and the knowledge of why he was there at the back of his mind. He ended up on his back - not something that usually happened when he was with a woman - after the pain in his shoulder from holding himself over Anna had gotten too much.
He didn't want to say he didn't enjoy the sex with Anna, but it was hard to be totally involved when all he could think about were the pills he was desperate for.
Anna reached her climax with a soft moan, stilling above him as her fingers dug into the muscles of Severide's chest. As she leaned down to kiss him breathlessly, Severide too came, spilling into the condom with a muffled groan.
They gasped into each other's mouths for a few moments, both struggling to get their breaths back until Anna finally pulled off him and flopped onto the bed with a low laugh. She curled into Severide's side, pillowing her head on his chest while they came down from their highs and caught their breath. Severide draped an arm around her reluctantly, wondering how long he had to wait before he could ask the inevitable and ignored the pain coursing through his right side.
"I've missed that," Anna giggled, pressing an absent kiss to his chest.
Severide didn't answer, just stared at the ceiling. Eventually though he found his voice, "I need a favour, Anna."
She rolled her eyes and pulled away a little, huffing a disbelieving breath. "Can we just order a little room service first?"
"You asked me to meet you here," Severide pointed out. "And I did," he added unnecessarily.
Anna huffed another exaggerated sigh and rolled over to prop herself up on an elbow, watching him expectantly. "Fine, go ahead. You want a favour, I'm listening."
Severide copied her position, holding his sore arm close to his body. "I need something ok? Something strong."
Anna's face grew hard and she moved to sit up on the edge of the bed. When that wasn't enough she stood, sheet wrapped firmly around her and started to pace.
Severide didn't speak just watched her warily and pulled himself up to lean against the headboard.
"Job related I'm assuming." It wasn't a question so Severide didn't answer and Anna didn't so much as spare at glance at him. She finally spun on her heel and stared directly at him. "What is it?"
Severide entertained the thought of lying to her for a second, telling her that it was just a pinched nerve but he knew that if he wanted to get the type of painkillers the pain was demanding he'd need to be honest.
"Crack in my vertebrae," he said and tried not to wince at the look on her face when she heard that.
Anna resumed her pacing and Severide fell silent again.
"I guess I don't have to tell you that you should be seeing a doctor right?" The look on Severide' face seemed answer enough because Anna nodded and walked faster. "Look, I'll try ok. I'll see what I can get." She rubbed a hand over her face. "Wait for me to call you, ok? I'll get back to you when I hear."
Severide nodded, though he didn't know if it was out of thanks or just simple acknowledgment and stood slowly, again lost for words. He'd never been one for words but this whole interaction with Anna had left him even more speechless.
"I'm going to have a shower," she said and Severide knew that was his cue to go not invitation to join her.
Severide nodded and mumbled a goodbye but caught her arm before she disappeared into the bathroom suite.
"Thank you for this, Anna, really."
She managed a tired smile before pulling from his grip. Severide dressed and left, trying not to let the awkwardness of the situation dampen his relief.
The drama with Voight, which Casey had been able to forget about for a few days all came rushing back during his next shift. Boden found him on top of truck 81 conducting the mandatory check of the truck and equipment.
"I have someone."
Casey stilled at the words then set his clipboard aside, shuffling closer to the edge of the truck to listen.
"I know a guy who lives in Voight's neighbourhood who knows a kid who's willing to wear a wire. If you're up for it, we'll meet him at the end of the shift?"
Casey nodded his agreement quickly and reached a hand down to clasp with Boden's. Boden nodded to him and left, leaving him to finish his work.
But Casey couldn't concentrate on the truck now. For the first time in weeks it looked like there was light at the end of the tunnel. It wasn't just him that this ordeal had been hard on but Hallie as well not to mention their relationship which had already been rocky to begin with. So now he could finally breathe a sigh of relief and hope that this would be the end of it.
Severide wandered aimlessly through the halls of the station, feeling a little adrift from the lack of calls they'd had that shift. The squad had only been called out once the whole day and another squad had already been there so they'd barely had to lift a finger before they'd been sent home, leaving Severide with all this restless energy he wasn't entirely sure how to get rid off. It was late enough that he could go to bed but he doubted he'd have much luck getting any rest.
So he ambled throughout the station instead, trying not to think about Anna who still hadn't called him back, or the mountain of paperwork that was quickly piling up on his desk, or the ever present ache in his right side and what he'd do if Anna couldn't help him, or Casey with who despite everything Severide still wasn't sure where he stood. But when he took away all of that there wasn't a lot for Severide to think about. Instead he found himself thinking about the good old days, when Darden had still been alive and he and Casey had still been together and everything was just so much simpler.
He found himself drifting through the sleeping quarters. A couple of the beds were occupied with the lumps of sleeping firefighters, but most were empty, the majority of the house, Severide presumed, like him too wired to sleep.
Casey was awake in his quarters however, thin strips of light visible underneath the drawn blinds and under the door and without really thinking it through he steered himself towards it and was knocking. At the distracted "come in" he opened the door but didn't step in yet, choosing instead to lean against the door jamb, giving Casey the space to renege his open welcome.
Casey glanced up at him when he didn't speak. "Hey?" he said, voice lifting at the end to make it a question.
"Hey," Severide replied but still didn't move from his spot.
Casey made a few more notes on the report he was writing before dropping the pen and turning to him expectantly. "Are you just going to hover all night or are you going to come in."
Severide smiled at the fond exasperation in his voice and stepped inside, closing the door behind him and taking a seat on the edge of the bed. Casey retrieved the pen he'd discarded and went on with his report. His silence, Severide knew though from knowing Casey wasn't disinterest but rather an offer for Severide to collect his thoughts before they started whatever this was.
He smoothed his hands over the familiar bedspread almost automatically. The room hadn't changed at all since the last time he'd been in here months ago but there was an unfamiliarity around it that had developed since his relationship with Casey had ended. The feeling didn't sit well in his stomach and he felt an odd urge to associate himself with every inch of the place. He circumvented the impulse however and settled for just sitting there.
"How are things with Voight?" Severide asked, eyeing the bruise he could see on Casey's cheek. They'd slowly been fading over the past couple of days but even without the visual reminder Severide didn't think he'd forget the damage inflicted on Casey for a while yet.
He got an unintelligible grunt in response but Severide waited a minute and just when he thought that was all he was going to get, Casey abandoned his report altogether, spun around in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk.
"Boden's got someone in Voight's neighbourhood who's going to wear a wire."
"That's great, man. So this could all be over in a couple of days?"
"Yeah."
The two fell quiet, but unlike with Anna the silence wasn't uncomfortable, more reflective as they both contemplated their own thoughts.
"I should have vented the back."
Severide didn't remember making the decision to say the words; it was like his mouth opened of its own volition and the words came bursting out but even after they were out and hanging in the air he couldn't find it within himself to regret saying them. They hadn't spoken about Andy since they'd come to their unsteady truce but Severide knew it was a conversation well overdue between them.
Casey moved like lightening. One minute he was sitting in his chair, tipped back, hands behind his head like he couldn't be more relaxed and the next he was standing in front of Severide, hands gripping his shoulders, expression fiercely determined.
"No," he said firmly. "I shouldn't have asked you to. It wasn't your responsibility."
Severide reached up and settled a hand on Casey's neck, needing the contact.
"I should have vented the back," he murmured.
"I shouldn't have asked you to," Casey whispered back.
"Andy should have waited."
Both Lieutenants blinked in surprise at Severide's words as if neither could believe he'd actually said it. But before Severide could feel bad about it, Casey bit his lip and Severide realised that the blonde had been thinking the same thing but had been too afraid to say it.
"God," he whispered.
"Yeah," Casey agreed, hands slipping free of Severide's shoulders as he moved to sit beside him on the bed.
It was basically the exact thing that the investigator had said months ago at the white-board session but the pair had been too blinded by grief at the time to consider it being anyone's fault but each other's. They were both silent as they stared unseeingly at the windows.
"So if it wasn't your fault. And it wasn't my fault. Where does that leave us?" Severide asked almost afraid to hear the answer.
"I don't- I don't know, Kelly." Casey didn't know what they were when they didn't have the anger as an excuse to keep them apart.
"Maybe what we used to be?" He asked.
There was a long pause where Severide could feel Casey's eyes digging into the side of his face, a gaze he resolutely ignored before he realised exactly what he'd said.
"Friends," Severide said quickly, his voice rising in his hurry. "I meant friends." Because shit, Casey had Hallie now. Severide rubbed a hand over his chin, feeling day old stubble prick at his fingertips and tried to remember a time it had ever been this awkward between them.
"Right, yeah, of course," Casey said. A pause then, "Kelly, I'd like that… if we could…"
Severide nodded and the smile that spread across his face was pure relief. He knew that his behaviour the fast few months hadn't shown it but even before they'd gotten together Casey had been the best friend he'd ever had beside Darden.
He stood from the bed after the moment and gripped Casey's shoulder briefly. "I missed you, Matt," he said quietly. The rest of the words are on the tip of his tongue, "I'm sorry," for punching Casey that day, for the anger, for the blame, for pushing him away but then Casey smiled softly at him and Severide suddenly knew that he didn't need to say them. As always Casey knew.
"Me too, Kelly," Casey said, equally quiet and Severide knew that he was agreeing to both sentiments.
Casey was feeling pretty good when he left the house the next day, Antonio and Boden in tow to meet with Boden's friend and the kid. As Antonio ran through the process, Casey felt lighter than he had since this whole thing began. He and Severide were in a somewhat good place again and the end of this was finally in sight.
These hopes were of course quickly dashed when he accepted a call from Hallie.
"Hey baby," he greeted and waved the other two ahead of him into Antonio's waiting car.
"Matt," came Hallie's wary reply and Casey knew instantly that something was wrong.
"Everything alright?"
"N-no. Voight pulled me over last night on my way home; some bullshit excuse about rolling through a stop sign. He told me to tell you to back off. And then he threatened us and said something about things getting uglier. I thought all this would just blow over."
Casey clenched his teeth down on the impending rage at Voight's nerve and tried to focus on his distraught girlfriend.
"I get it. Just why didn't you call me last night when it happened?"
"I didn't know what to do, Matt, or if I should even tell you."
Casey sighed tiredly and rubbed a hand over his face. "Alright. I'm taking care of this now. It'll all be over soon," he promised.
"Ok." There was a beat of silence and then, "I love you, Matt."
"Yeah," he said already climbing into the car and gesturing for Antonio to drive. "I love you too."
After meeting with Anna everything felt just a little better to Severide and with Vargas basically foaming at the mouth to become a real member of rescue squad he figured he could throw him a bone now that the shift had ended. So he wandered through the halls of the house holding back any squad members he could find that hadn't left yet.
"You seen Vargas?" he asked Hadley as they crossed paths going opposite directions in a hallway.
"Yeah, he's heading in."
"Ok. Hey you hear-"
"Roof in ten? I heard Lieutenant, meet you up there. Oh hey, you got a call a few minutes ago, by the way,"
Hadley's words had Severide slowing down and turning apprehensively.
"Some woman named Anna."
His stomach jolted at hearing her name come out of one of his squad members lops but from Hadley's tone of voice Severide could tell he didn't remember her. He forced a lazy nod and called back a thanks, darting off again before Hadley could question him any further.
He finally found Vargas heading in from the apparatus floor.
"Vargas, grab your rappelling gear and meet me outside."
"What? Shift's ended."
"You heard me," was all Severide would say before heading outside himself.
They met the kid and Boden's friend deep in the industrial section of the city, underneath the railway and far away from Voight's far-reaching and prying eyes.
"This is Darell," Boden's friend introduced as they got closer.
"This is Detective Dawson," Boden returned.
Antonio got right down to business. "What have you got for us, kid?"
"Voight bad, man. Whole West Side up and down know to step back."
"You done favours for him?"
"Yeah. Enough to get tight anyway."
"Yeah? What's he told you?" Antonio asked, pulling a notebook from his jacket pocket.
"Mess with the lady, expect a payday."
Casey gritted his teeth and clenched a fist to keep from doing or saying anything that might mess up this deal. But it wasn't easy.
"But go after you," Darell continued, directly to Casey now. "He said he'd take care of all of us. 'Anything you need,' he said. 'Get out of jail free' passes for me and some others."
"So you'll wear a wire?" Casey asked.
The response was immediate. "Hell yeah."
"When did Voight reach out last?"
For the first time since they'd started talking Darell hesitated before he gave his answer and even then it wasn't too confident.
"Two weeks ago?" The inflection in his voice made it more of a question than a statement and Casey's stomach twisted.
Antonio pounced on the doubt like a tiger on it's prey. "Two weeks?" he asked, voice sharp.
"Maybe a week."
Casey couldn't believe his ears, Boden shook his head in disgust and Antonio's stare pinned the kid in place.
"Well, which is it?"
"A week then." The kid said hastily trying to correct his mistake but the damage was already done.
"Aye ya," Antonio sighed and stuffed his notebook back into his jacket pocket.
"Whatever you want it to be you tell me," the kid tried but they were having none of it.
"This guy's full of it," Casey growled and stalked off to the car.
The kid's words followed him. "Look, I get paid, I get you what you want. Everybody makes out. It's capitalism, man."
But Casey was buying what he was selling and Boden saved him the trouble of answering.
"Get the hell out of here."
Casey could hear the kid arguing and Boden's friend apologising but honestly he just didn't care. He flung himself into one of the car seat and struck out at the window to vent his frustration. It wasn't supposed to have gone down like this; this was supposed to be the end of all this, not just another obstacle. He took a couple of deep shuddering breaths and tried to ignore how tired he was.
By the time Boden and Antonio joined him in the car he'd collected himself and was gazing disinterestedly out the car window at the bland colours outside.
"No worries, bro," Antonio said as he started the car. "We'll find someone and we'll nail Voight."
For his own peace of mind, Casey chose to believe him.
Severide knew he'd made the right choice on putting Vargas through his rappelling paces when he saw the grin on his face even as he struggled up onto the roof.
"And time," he called the moment Vargas' hand appeared over the ledge and clicked off the stopwatch. "6:42, ladies," he announced and stood from his camp chair to survey Hadley and Capp. "He obliterated your old time," he told Capp before bending over to help haul Vargas up with his free hand while Hadley laughed at his friend's expense.
Between Hadley and Severide they got Vargas completely onto the roof while Capp watched from his own chair.
"I'm not helping his ass up here," he groused.
Severide set up the last camp chair and pulled a beer from the cooler for the man. "Now sit your ass down, Vargas. You earned it."
Vargas detached himself from all the clips and ropes holding him in place and sunk into the chair with a grateful groan.
"Welcome to squad," Severide grinned, handing over the beer.
"Before breakfast?"
Severide shrugged and took a long pull from his own drink. "After shift."
The four man lapsed into an easy silence as they looked over the city, the quiet interrupted only by the sounds of traffic and Vargas' panting breaths.
Then Hadley said something that had all Severide's good feelings leaving him in one big rush.
"Did you ever call Anna back?"
"Nah," Severide said casually.
"Oh now I remember," Hadley said after a moment. "Anna. Yeah, she was a pharmaceutical rep or something like that."
Severide stiffened slightly at those words and he knew he'd have to say something to put Hadley off whatever track he was following.
He forced a lecherous grin onto his face. "Was she? We never really talked." He let the implications hang in the air and saw the minute they started running wild in the other's heads. He leaned back and enjoyed the show as knowing grins spread across their faces and they laughed, any suspicious thoughts already vanishing from their heads.
Severide was pleasantly warm from the sun and just buzzed enough from the beers to be in that happy place when he climbed down from the room with the others. But those feelings quickly dissipated and worry replaced them when he caught sight of Casey stalking back into the house, frown deep set on his face. This meeting was supposed to be the end of all the drama but the frown didn't suggest good results.
He caught Boden's eye where his chief was standing with Antonio but Boden merely offered a solemn headshake. Severide bade his squad goodbye, headed inside and caught up with Casey in the locker room where the other Lieutenant was packing his bag with a ferocity that the task didn't warrant.
"I'm guessing it didn't go well," Severide said cautiously, leaning against the locker beside Casey's.
Casey's response was merely a grunt but Severide waited because he had a feeling Casey wasn't quite done yet.
Sure enough there was only a moment of silence before Casey was continuing. "The kid was full of shit. Didn't know anything."
Severide winced sympathetically. "But it's not over, right? You'll find someone else and then you'll take him down."
Casey was quiet for so long that Severide actually leaned forward to make sure nothing was wrong.
"Casey?"
"Right yeah. Of course."
But Severide heard the lie for what it was because after everything and perhaps in spite of everything Severide knew Casey. He knew him as well as he had known Andy and well as he knew himself which was why he didn't believe Casey's forced nonchalance for a second.
"Don't," he said before he could think about it too hard. Casey shot him a look, part surprised, part daring. "Whatever stupid thing you're thinking about doing. Don't. Voight's not worth that."
Severide's voice had steadily risen until he was almost shouting and his voice was ringing around the empty locker room.
Casey felt a spark of anger and he was spinning around, slamming his locker door shut, and pinning Severide with a glare in an instant.
"Me doing something stupid, huh?" he snapped. "What about you?"
In the chaos of the Voight situation, whatever was going on with Severide's shoulder had slid to the back of Casey's mind, yet never leaving it entirely. Each call brought it back to the front of his mind, the way he acted when they were out on shifts, the methodical way he chewed at his bottom lip as though he was holding something inside, the small winces and groans of pain he thought no one noticed.
Severide narrowed his eyes. "Don't do anything stupid," was all he would say.
"Don't tell me something you refuse to hear yourself."
Casey's lips twisted into a flat line and he gave a half shrug before leaving without another word preventing Severide from asking Casey exactly what he had meant by that. Although he was pretty sure he already knew what he meant and he'd rather find out how much Casey knew.
Severide met Anna in a secluded part of the city and to say he wasn't impressed with her would be an understatement. He tried not to think about much this felt like a drug deal as a train rattled past over head and she jogged over, dangerously high heels on her feet. Don't tell me something you refused to hear yourself. The words had been echoing in Severide's head the whole way over, reminding him again and again how stupid he was being doing this. But what other choice did he have?
She must have anticipated his anger however because she started talking before she reached him. "I know I shouldn't have called the firehouse." She held her hands up placatingly but Severide didn't comment. "Here," she said and offered him the nondescript white paper bag she held.
He felt his irritation ebb away as he opened it and saw the countless blister packets stuffed inside. "Thank you."
Anna's expression was serious. "Be careful with these. Take them only when necessary."
"I will," Severide said quickly. Don't tell me something you refused to hear yourself.
Anna nodded and slowly her expression lightened until she was smiling coyly up at him. "I'm in town two more days," she said pointedly and quirked an eyebrow.
Severide struggled for something to say but there was no good way to tell someone you're not interested. "Cool," he said finally. "I'll let you know."
He could see by her expression that it wasn't the right thing to say but her face cleared quickly enough that he didn't worry too much about it. She scoffed at him, almost in disbelief and reached up and kissed him. The way she kissed him it was almost like she was trying to prove what he was missing but he wasn't falling for it. He just wasn't interested.
Casey had one more stop before he left the station, though after his conversation with Severide he was doubting himself and the plan that he'd been developing since the failed meeting with Darell.
Don't do anything stupid.
He flattened his palm on the cool metal of the truck. Behind the panel was a halligan waiting for him to take and use to make sure Voight never came near him or Hallie again. He sighed and tipped forward until his forehead rested against the truck as well.
Voight's not worth that.
And he wasn't. Severide had been right about that at least. He wasn't worth the consequences that this course of action was sure to bring, wasn't worth compromising his morals on. He wasn't worth anything. And it had taken Severide of all people for Casey to learn that.
His hand curled into a fist and he slammed it into the red metal just once. Just to let out all the pain and hopeless before he walked away.
Hey darlings,
It feels like it's been so long since I last posted but it's only been about a month (I think) which is actually pretty good for me. I wanted to have this up last night but I wanted to finish the ch I was working on first and ended up writing a whopping 10k for it and didn't finish until 11:30 and I had photos at school today so I needed to sleep :/ but get psyched for chapter 14 because it's going to be a long one, possibly the longest yet?
Anyways I don't know when I'll be able to post next because I'm heading into half yearly exams and it's my last year so got to actually study this time XD but I'll try to get up before I start and if not well then I got right into holidays so it'll definitely be up then.
Also a guest reviewer left me this message: "Now we need S2 tbi episode so could you just make a huge time jump or write a seperate fic please! x" but I'm not sure what they mean. If the person could wrote this could leave another review telling me what they mean or if anyone esle could explain that would be great, thanks :)
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