The Truck company welcomed back their lieutenant with a loud and very enthusiastic greeting, most whooping when they caught sight of him entering the rec room the next morning. Herrmann true to his mother hen nature shooed them away before they smothered the poor man.

"Alright, alright. Don't turn it into a Greek wedding. Come on, everybody, just a normal day, go about your business."

Casey nodded gratefully to him and Herrmann shot back his own small smile in return. He only managed a few steps closer to the coffee pot when the bells went off, stopping him in his tracks.

"Truck 81, Engine 51, Squad 3, Ambulance 61. Building fire. Indiana and 28th."

Casey yanked his jacket from his shoulders and tossed it onto the table as he passed, leading his company out onto the apparatus floor. He caught Severide's eyes across the floor where the other lieutenant was approaching his own truck and Severide raised an eyebrow at him: Ready to get back into things?

His lips quirked up in response and ducked his head in a half nod. They dressed quickly, toeing off their shoes and stepping into the turnout gear and climbed into their respective rig, the ambulance pulling out first with the other three trucks and Boden's smaller 4 wheel drive right on their heels.

Truck 81 did the initial search upon arrival, determining what exactly had happened and how it might have started.

Herrmann was the one to brief the Chief when he stepped out of his car. "Hey, Chief. Dumpster fire. Nobody called it in and the flames went up the service elevator shaft, spread out on the fifth floor."

Boden nodded. "Find the super. I need occupancy numbers. What about the main elevator?" he asked, catching Herrmann before he could find the superintendent.

"Otis' just cleared it. He's coming out now with a few more tenants."

From there Boden took charge as he waited for more companies to arrive. With the casualties already milling around the lone ambulance it was clear that backup was needed. He left Dawson in charge there, hoping that it was the right decision and focussed on the burning building.

Surprisingly enough it was Shay who first notice that something was wrong. "Where are all the people?" she asked, squinting at the building. "No one's coming out of the other side of the building."

Boden's head snapped around to find that Shay was right and there was a suspicious lack of people coming out of the burning building. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Casey, who'd been awaiting orders, watching the building as well with calculating eyes.

He tugged his radio closer. "Squad 3, check out the west side fire stairwell."

"Already on three. Must be a blockage," came Severide's crackling response. "Capp and Hadley have the east."

Boden did a few quick calculations and realised that Severide had to be just about on his own and made a quick executive decision. "I'm sending you Casey, Cruz and Mills. We need to check out those upper floors."

Casey was moving before he'd even finished talking. "On it."

They entered the smoky building, fighting to see through the murky air and quickly climbed the stairs to find Severide.

Up on the third floor Severide had found the cause for the blockage; junk outside an apartment had been stacked so high and widely that it made it impossible to get through the hallway without bringing the pile raining down.

"You're kidding me," he grunted and began shifting the stuff out of the way, hoping Casey and his team would get there soon.

"Severide!" Casey yelled as he, Cruz and Mills cleared the final set of steps separating them.

"Hey, we've got to clear a path," he called back, kicking through the stuff that had fallen to the floor. It wasn't the most stable situation but with the fire burning above them they didn't exactly have a lot of time to do anything else.

Casey left Mills and Cruz to deal with the toppling stack of furniture and stuff and followed Severide through to the apartments that lay beyond.

"Is there anybody back there?" Severide called out. Almost immediately he collided with a body, grabbing a hold of her when she stumbled.

"They can't breathe," the woman said through her own hacking coughs. "It's pitch black in there. There's people in the hall."

Severide passed the woman onto Casey who in turn guided her towards Mills and Cruz leaving one of them to take her downstairs and followed the vague shape of Severide further into the shadows.

More people followed her out and Severide and Casey flattened themselves against the wall to give them a way out.

"If you're mobile, keep walking," Severide told them. Casey reached out to stop a young girl from stumbling to the ground and her father wrapped a supporting arm around her waist. "Slow and steady," Severide continued. "There's paramedics waiting."

"Hey," Severide yelled, finding Casey's shoulder through the din and pulling him closer. They had to basically lean forehead to forehead to see and hear each other and even then it was a struggle through the black smoke and the roar of flames above them. "I'll take this one." He indicated the apartment they were standing outside of and felt Casey nod.

"I'm going to go up further."

Severide checked the apartment slowly and carefully, using his thermal imaging camera when he realised he wouldn't be able to see through the smoke. The camera showed four shapes he knew to be humans, heaped on the floor and unmoving. His heart sunk for a moment, knowing from their conversation that Mills, Cruz and Casey were up on six and having a hell of a time fighting through the flames and smoke. He had no idea where the rest of the house was and knew that he now had to deal with four unconscious people.

He pulled his radio closer, updated Shay and Dawson on the victims coming down to them then got to work. First he dragged them out to the stairwell, knowing that any firefighter's coming up or down would stumble across them and take them down. Then he did a quick, cursory check of their injuries; of the four only one looked to have sustained burns, the rest unconscious from smoke inhalation. While the three couldn't afford for him to dawdle, the man with burns up his arm and neck was priority so he hoisted him up in his arms and began to jog down the stairs. There was a woman and a teenaged girl that Severide thought he could get on the next trip and hopefully by then he'd have backup to help with the other man.

Dawson met Severide as he approached and lead him to a free gurney where Shay was waiting.

"Another, red," Dawson identified. "This is yours Shay."

"Got it," the blonde said and took over while Severide wrestled with his helmet and oxygen mask that had become constricting the second he'd stepped outside.

"Three more up on three," Severide said, looking up at the building where smoke was spilling out.

"Any burns?" Dawson wanted to know.

"Not on three. Only him. But Casey, Cruz and Mills went higher."

He headed back to the building, Boden surprising him by following him, geared up in a way that Severide hadn't seen from his Chief in a while.

"Capp, Hadley, meet us in the west stairwell," Boden said into the radio and Severide didn't pay attention to the muffled response that they got.

"You ready for this?" Severide asked Boden, who nodded solemnly and tugged his oxygen mask on.

They ran into the building and up the stairs to the third floor where the three victims were waiting exactly where Severide had left them. As Severide had predicted he was able to hoist the teenager over his shoulder while picking the oman up in his arms, while Boden was more than strong enough to carry the man.

They met Capp and Hadley on their way up and Capp took the teenager from Severide's shoulder while Boden passed the man off to Hadley.

"I'm going up," Boden yelled and didn't wait for their response to turn on his heel and start climbing again.

It had been too long since they'd heard from the team on seven. Severide's stomach churned with fear but he pushed on, just as he'd been trained to do.

The air up on eight was burning but Casey didn't let that deter him as he went from apartment to apartment, kicking down the doors and peering into the small one-room flats.

"Fire department," he yelled into the black abyss. "Call out." He waited but there was no response and he backed out, dodged around a small cluster of flames licking at the wall and went on to the next one.

Right in the centre of the next apartment was a huddling pair, kneeling on the carpet and looking seconds from passing out.

"Come on. Come on!" he yelled to them, gesturing and they stumbled up and towards him.

The man slung the woman's arm around his neck and hoisted her up while Casey took the other side and lead them out into the hallway that was slowly building into an inferno.

"Casey, retreat. Go back! You won't make it." Boden's voice was tight and concerned through the radio and through the haze of smoke and fire Casey could just see his form at the other end of the hallway.

He didn't stop to question the Chief and shoved the pair back into the apartment, ignoring their protests and looked away from Boden and further down the burning hallway just to see a fireball build and coming hurling down the hallway right at him. He skidded into the room and slammed the door behind him just in time and thanking God that it had remained intact when he'd kicked it open.

He only had a moment to hope that Boden had gotten out the way fast enough, images of Darden being consumed by flames in his mind when he got his answer.

"Casey plus two on eight. East corner unit. Move that ladder now!"

Down on the ground Severide kicked the men into movement. Cruz was in the truck in a second and pulling it into position the next. Raising the ladder took longer and they all had to wait impatiently while Cruz directed it into the precise location. If Severide hurried him and he got it wrong they'd waste precious seconds recalculating it, seconds that Casey didn't have.

All the while he had to listen to Casey on the radio. "Mayday! Mayday!" Casey's voice sounded tight with worry and Severide had to swallow thickly to stop from barking at Cruz. "Not sure how long I can hold it back."

"Cruz," he growled, approaching the truck where the firefighter in question was biting his lip in concentration.

"Eight is going to be a reach, Lieutenant," Cruz answered maneuvering the ladder.

"Just get it as close as you can," Severide responded already stripping off his oxygen tank and any other gear that would inhibit him when he climbed the ladder.

Casey wasn't a big man; his form would be described more as lithe than muscular but he was a firefighter and between the muscles he did possess and all the gear he carried it was enough to keep the door in place even as the fire crowded against it on the other side. He'd been around fires for almost half his life so he wasn't too concerned about his proximity as flames began to gather at the edges of the door but he could see the man's wide eyes as he took it in, even if the woman hadn't noticed yet.

"What's your name?" he asked partly to distract him as he tugged off his oxygen mask and tank and dropped it to the floor. He struggled to reattach the chinstrap of his helmet as the door buffeted against this back.

"Curtis," came the hoarse reply.

"Ok, Curtis. You're gonna put that on her," he said, sliding the oxygen across to them. "Make sure it's tight around her face."

The change without his mask on was obvious as suddenly every lungful of air he inhaled burned painfully and his eyes stung from the smoke. He coughed lightly and hoped that they'd be quick with the ladder.

"Good," he said, on the tail end of another cough when he noticed the mask was strapped securely to the woman's face. Another push from the door had him planting his feet more securely but he tried to ignore it and focus on the pair in front of him. "Now I want you to open the window."

Curtis looked from him to the window which lead to an insurmountable drop and Casey knew what Curtis was going to say before he even opened his mouth.

"We ain't going to make that."

"Open it!" he barked and Curtis didn't argue again.

The second Cruz had the ladder in the right second Severide was climbing it, moving faster than was probably safe.

"We're coming for you, Casey."

Casey's chuckle was hoarse when it came and his voice sounded even worse. "Better make it fast. It's getting hot in here." Severide knew instantly that Casey had given up his oxygen mask for one of the victims and clenched his teeth. Idiot.

Severide clambered up the last few rungs, Capp just behind him, one hand firmly attached to the radio, his only way of communicating with Casey. "All right, tell them to stand in three, two, one," he finished as he reached the window where smoke billowing out and into his face.

"All right, Curtis get your mum up."

Severide heard Casey's voice just over the scream off fire and a pair emerged from the smoke from where he guessed they'd been crouching underneath the window.

The poor woman looked terrified as the man, who Severide assumed was her son, gestured for her to go first and Severide knew that for civilians it didn't get much scarier than standing, unsecured on a ladder, stretched as far as it would go, eight floors up but there wasn't time to guide her slowly through this. Severide took her hand, then her hips as she turned as per his instructions and then pushed her gently down below him, shifting his feet precariously to one side so she could climb down to Capp's waiting arms.

Once she was out of range Severide climbed back up and gestured to Casey who he could now see hovering by the door.

"Come on!"

But Casey shook his head firmly. "Not until he's out."

Severide relented and didn't waste time on the sigh, all but yanking the man from the burning building.

"All right, your turn," Severide yelled as soon as the man's hand left the windowsill.

But again Casey shook his head. "No way. Not until you're out of range."

Severide could have killed him himself then but instead just shoved at the man's shoulder until he slithered down by Severide's legs. After making sure he was secure there he reached a hand out for Casey again.

"Not moving, Matt. Let go, now!"

"All right, here I come," Casey yelled back and if there was time Severide might have smiled at the resignation in his tone, as if he was personally being inconvenienced by Severide's persistence.

But there wasn't time so instead he ducked his head to talk to the man below him on the ladder. "All right, hang on and keep your head down."

Severide flattened himself against the ladder. He didn't want to, he wanted to keep his head up and make sure Casey made it out all right. But he knew that he would only be an obstacle in the way of a very small target and besides, he didn't much feel like sustaining burns to his face.

Severide heard the moment that Casey made his move because the volume of the flames, which had been a dull roar up until that point suddenly increased until it was all he could hear. Then he felt the thud of Casey's weight on his back and for one glorious moment everything was all right. Because even though the heat was unbearable and the noise terrifying and he could actually feel flames licking at his exposed skin, he could feel Casey's weight on him and he knew he was safe.

Then that moment ended and he felt Casey slip away.

He flung an arm out without even really thinking about it - certainly not realising it was his bad arm - and seized ahold of stiff turn-out gear. The handful wasn't ripped from his grip as he assumed the momentum would do and he prayed that Casey had found something else to hold onto. Finally the flames cleared and it was safe again for Severide to open his eyes and he didn't really like what he saw.

Fortunately Casey had managed to grab ahold of one of the rungs on the ladder but that was the only good news. Casey was dangling below the ladder, one hand on the rung the other on the rail and the grip Severide did have was on his elbow which didn't give him much leverage.

He watched as Casey's face contorted and he groaned as he tried to lift himself up. He didn't make it more than a few inches upwards before the energy left him and he fell back down and to make matters worse he lost his grip on the railing and in Severide's surprise he lost his own grip on Casey. Suddenly Casey was dangling with only one hand on a ladder rung between him and certain death.

"Can't- can't get up," Casey panted and strained with the effort.

Severide just about rolled off the ladder himself trying to get closer to Casey but eventually he grabbed back a hold of his friend.

"Swing," he ordered, gritting his teeth against the pain shooting up and down his arm. Strangely enough though this time it wasn't holding him back; instead it was more urging him on, giving him even more energy to save Casey. Severide felt as though he could have lifted a truck with his bad arm if it meant saving Casey.

"Come on," he grunted and slowly he began to swing Casey back and forth bringing him closer to the side of the ladder. From there once he was in position Casey used his own momentum to swing back and forth until he could a hook a foot over the railing of the ladder and then it was a piece of cake to drag the rest of him up onto the ladder.

The three of them lay there panting for a few minutes. Casey was tucked between Severide's front and the railing and Severide was quite content to lie there for a bit, reassuring himself that his friend was all right. Besides neither of them had the energy to go anywhere fast. The poor man they'd rescued was squashed beneath of them and their gear and probably copped more than a couple of boots to various parts of his body.

Finally when they heard the hiss of the water cannons being fired up they gathered the energy to lift their heads and watch as the burning building was doused. Capp or someone came up the ladder from below them and began to guide the man down and slowly Casey and Severide followed, basically sliding over the rungs of the ladder rather than climbing down properly.

When they got to the ground they both just about collapsed on the grass by 61's ambulance and watched lazily as the truck companies gathered got to work on the flames. A couple of water bottle were thrown their way by passing firefighter's and they both guzzled one and tipped the other over their sweaty hair. Through the glittering water droplets gathering in his eyes Severide found himself grinning at Casey and for a moment they were both inexplicably thinking that life was pretty good.

Then Dawson dropped to the ground beside them and the moment ended. The woman looked absolutely ragged from the sheer amount of patients they'd been overwhelmed with. Severide felt a twitch of sympathy for her inside him, especially considering she wasn't finished yet with Casey's last two rescues still sitting on the edge of her rig, oxygen masks over their faces.

"That was pretty close, huh?" she asked, speaking more to Casey than Severide.

"Plenty of time." Casey's voice was dismissive, as was the wave of his hand.

Dawson looked and sounded unimpressed. "Really?"

She grabbed the helmet Casey had discarded on the ground and held it up, clearly indicating the fresh burn mark that stood out at the back of it. Casey still didn't look too concerned and Severide snickered to himself.

"Listen," he said and changed the subject. "If you see Hallie at the hospital, don't tell her about any of this. I've given her enough to worry about lately."

Dawson nodded slowly and headed back over to her patients. Casey and Severide watched her go then looked at each other, Severide raising his eyebrows with a smirk.

"What?" Casey muttered but didn't wait for a response. "There's nothing going on."

Severide shrugged and closed his eyes serenely. "I just hope you know what you're doing."

Severide felt Casey's kick even through the thick layers of his gear and opened an eye just in time to see Casey lean back on his hands nonchalantly. They watched Mills come in to send Dawson on to her deposition before figuring they'd better get up and start herding their men back to the trucks. They hauled each other to their feet and lumbered away, Casey calling a final goodbye to his rescues over his shoulder.

"Take care of your mum, ok?"

They didn't make it more than a few steps however when the man was calling out to them

"Hey. Are you Casey?"

Casey cut a look at Severide but he was just as confused.

"Yeah."

The guy looked reluctant but he stood from the ambulance, stepped away from his mum and closer to them.

"You're the one who's got the problem with Detective Voight, right?"

Severide and Casey exchanged another look.

"Yeah, that's right," Casey said slowly.

The man shrugged. "Man, I can help you out."

The deposition was just as boring as Severide feared it would be. It was full of expert witnesses going on long rambling speeches, the mother of the accused sobbing up on the stand about how good a boy her son was, character statements that were questionable to say the least. The only good thing was that Casey's statement went off without a hitch; he spoke clearly and concisely and from the way Voight was glaring at them it was every bit as effective as Severide thought. If looks could kill, they'd probably both be dead by the end of the court case. The real cincher was when the kid from the accident wheeled himself in, his parents flanking him. There was no judge in the world who was going to let Voight's son off after seeing that.

Severide half expected Voight to come at them the second they stepped out of the courtroom. But it seemed he was preoccupied dealing with the sobbing wife in his arms. They escaped from the court steps, both tugging irritably at the ties around their necks and climbed into Severide's camaro. Which was when the call from Antonio came in.

The two on the phone seemed to skip the pleasantries and get right to business while Severide tried to read between the lines in the driver's seat.

"Where? When?"

Severide hoped that that meant that the guy from the fire - Curtis - was going to help them take out Voight after all.

"I want to be there," Casey said after a long minute of listening. Another beat, then, "Ok I'll see you later."

"That sounded promising," Severide noted once Casey had hung up.

"Curtis has agreed to wear a wire," he said slowly, like he wanted to be excited about it but wasn't sure if it was going to work out this time. Severide understood the feeling.

"That's good, man. Antonio going to let you be there?"

"Yeah, he is; I don't think he's too keen but he know how important it is for me to see it actually over. So if you could just drop me off at the station, Antonio's going to meet me there later."

Severide snorted. "And you're what going to wait around for hours? Nah, want me to drop you home? Be with Hallie?"

"On shift," Casey grunted back and looked unconvinced.

"Come on, man. Nothing's going to happen for a few hours yet. Let's do something, take your mind of it."

Casey looked up at him from underneath his eyelashes, all uncertainty and shyness that Severide rarely saw from him. "That offer for boxing still on the table?"

"Yeah," Severide found himself murmuring, looking away from the road just long enough to catch Casey's eye. "Yeah it is."

Having Casey back as his best friend again was probably the best thing in Severide's life what with his messed up neck and all. Which was why he was cursing his traitorous body to the ends of the earth for reacting to the sight of a flushed, and sweaty Casey.

It hadn't been much of a problem at first; Casey had immediately ducked into a ring, needing to vent his frustration on another living being rather than the bags where Severide had been trying to loosen up his shoulder for a bit. It was only when he parted with a trainer of his own where he'd been half-heartedly sparring and leant up against the ropes to watch the end of Casey's fight, that the sight of his face, colour on his cheekbones and hair sticking everywhere with sweat brought back memories of more, pleasurable times when they'd gotten hot and sweaty together.

The realisation that he was still attracted to Casey hit him like a hammer to the back of the head and he physically jolted. Internally though he was already rationalising it. It made sense, he reasoned, that the physical attraction was still there. They'd been together for a long time and objectively Casey hadn't changed physically. Severide figured that physical attraction might never fade but it didn't have to reflect the way he felt emotionally. Right.

"...Severide…"

The man in question blinked and snapped out of his inner monologue, looking around to find an expectant looking Casey, watching him with a dash of amusement in his bright, blue eyes. Severide's gaze skittered away again.

"Done yet?" he joked, voice sounding off to his own ears but Casey's expression remained amused so Severide counted it as a win. "I've been waiting for ages."

Casey scoffed. "It's barely been ten minutes since you came over.

"Shower then food?" Severide offered and tried not to be too happy about it when Casey agreed quickly.

The meet was taking place in some alleyway in one of the nastier parts of the city and Casey thought he was more nervous than when he ran into burning buildings. His palms were damp with sweat and his knee was bouncing uncontrollably, annoying even him. He was grateful however that Severide had taken him boxing to get his mind off it or he knew he would have been a complete wreck by the time they arrived.

The van they were waiting in was parked around the corner from the alley, lights and engine off, elusive in the growing shadows of the night. Casey sat with Antonio in the back, monitors lining the walls, patched into the few working traffic cameras nearby with the audio feed from Curtis' microphone playing like background noise through the van.

They weren't waiting more than fifteen minutes before a car pulled up alongside Curtis and a familiar hardened detective stepped from within it's depths.

"Here we go," Antonio muttered and Casey shifted slightly, nerves wound tight.

"What's happening, youngblood?" they heard Voight say as they watched him offer a hand to Curtis.

"What's up with you, V," came Curtis' cool reply. They hugged briefly and clapped each other on the back before stepping back and getting down to business. "Deshawn said there's money to be made on the firefighter. I want his deal."

"He tell you who it is?"

Casey gritted his teeth knowing that Voight would have to be the one to say his name if they wanted to get him on this. Curtis however remained composed and barely blinked.

"Yeah, but I wasn't really paying attention 'till he said something about the money." Curtis delivered the words with a half unconcerned half apologetic shrug, selling the act with all he had.

Voight must have bought it because he barely hesitated before he spoke again. "His name is Casey."

Antonio looked over and nodded slowly and Casey knew that they had him. No one moved yet and Casey knew that they'd talked to Curtis about waiting to see what else they could get on Voight.

"How much?" Curtis wanted to know.

"Depends on services rendered."

"Well, Deshawn said his boys got 5 for jumping him." Casey had already heard this before - Curtis had given up the names he had - but his stomach still twisted a little at being reminded that Voight had actually paid someone to beat him up.

"I figure I could do a lot worse for a grand," Curtis continued.

"Brother, you stop him for good, I'll give you 2."

Those were the words Antonio apparently needed to hear because his head whipped around to the officer manning the controls and confirmed that they'd gotten it all on tape before lifting the radio to his mouth sending the waiting units into surround Voight.

"Move in."

He leapt from the van leaving Casey to listen to the blare of alarms, twice as loud as they echoed over Curtis' microphone. Casey heard Curtis' final comment before the yells of Antonio and the other officers overpowered everything.

"They ain't here for me, bro."

Then officers were yelling for him to lift his hands and Casey got the satisfaction of watching as Voight was thrown bodily over the hood of the nearest car by Antonio and cuffs were snapped neatly on his wrists.

Casey stepped down from the van and slowly walked over, catching Voight's eye.

"Enjoy it while you can," he said, cool as you please even as he was being lead to the backseat of the police car. "This is entrapment."

"You're cooked, youngblood," Antonio spat back, mocking Voight's earlier words before forcing him into the car and out of Casey's sight. Good riddance, he thought bitterly.

Severide was listlessly watching the start of a hockey game when he got the call. He tapped the green accept button beneath Casey's name, a flower of apprehension unfurling in his chest.

"Hey?" he said but the nerves made it more a question than anything else.

"We got him," Casey said rather than a hello and Severide's head dropped to the back of the lounge in relief.

"That's great, Matt. I'm happy for you," he said, an insane grin stretching across his face.

"Thanks," Casey said quietly. "Hey are you coming to Dawson's suspension party?"

Severide made a face even though Casey couldn't see it and squinted at the television as a team he didn't really care about scored a goal.

"Eh, Shay's trying to bully me into going but I was thinking about blowing her off and just staying in tonight. The hockey's on."

He heard Casey laugh over the line and prepared himself for the taunt he'd opened himself up for.

Casey didn't disappoint. "Alright Grandpa, tell me who's on and I'll leave you alone."

"I'm only a year older than you," Severide protested weakly as he tried to identify the colours of the jersey's on screen.

"Mmmmm," Casey hummed in response, clearly waiting for him to get to it.

"I don't know," Severide conceded, watching as one of the unnamed teams slammed the puck home again.

"That's what I thought," Casey said sounding way too smug, Severide thought. "I'll see you at Mills' diner. We've got to have a drink to celebrate."

"All right, all right," Severide conceded with a chuckle switching the television off and clambering to his feet just as Shay appeared at the top of the stairs. "Hey and Casey, congratulations about Voight, I know this has been hard on you."

Casey's voice was light and happy when he answered. "Rear view mirror, baby. Rear view mirror," he said and hung up, promising to see Severide in a few minutes. The whole way there Casey's endearment echoed in his head, like a painful reminder of what they used to have.