Y'all are too good to me. I'm totally blown away by all of the reviews - you didn't forget about my little story! Thank you so much and to show my heartfelt appreciation for all the reviews, faves, and follows, here's another chapter in record time. Just a warning... I'm going way off the reservation, way AU. Characters are staying true to the show, but none of the plot lines. Okay, let the games begin...
"I think how much you love Shay made me fall harder for you, Severide," Erin confessed between little kisses she was planting all over Kelly's face. Seeing a man who could love, let himself love entirely, had a certain appeal that trumped even that well chiseled chest and bulging biceps.
"We're really gonna talk about Shay right now?" asked Kelly enjoying her lips pressing against his cheek. "Yeah, I fell hard for you when I saw the way you love Halst…"
Erin bit his lower lip. Hard.
"Ow!" he called out, clipping his laughter short.
"Dawson got it right, di…" Erin teased, eyes narrowing, but dimples still running deep.
"Hey, no name callin.' We're married now. We gotta fight fair." Kelly scolded.
"Just shut up and get naked," commanded Erin yanking at Kelly's jeans in mock frustration.
"Just cause you run things at work," protested the fireman, throwing his jeans over the side of the bed. He'd bitch and moan to Casey 'bout how damn bossy she was, but he loved her take charge attitude. Running squad all day, almost every day…. lives hanging in the balance. Yes, it was nice to have someone else be a lieutenant once in a while.
"You don't like the way I run things?" Erin asked throwing her jeans on top of Kelly's. "Get to work," she demanded, daring him to say something.
He didn't. He just got to work.
"You don't wish we'd had a big ceremony? White dress? In a church? We can do all that if you want it," Kelly's face awash with concern. He poured her a cup of coffee, mixing in one sweet & low, before getting his own.
"What part of me says big poufy dress?" Erin asked, pulling her hair back in a loose pony tail. "The way we did it was perfect because it's the way we did it. You know?" she asked seeing that scowl on her guy's face. "And...we had everyone we love celebrating with us last night." She knew the party was what they all needed, what Kelly needed. Deep down Severide was a traditional guy, holding the door for her, paying for dinner, holding her hand. She loved it, craved it when their work schedules didn't sync.
Kelly slit open a pack of bacon, dumping the big clump in a frying pan. "It was a good night," he said watching her nod in agreement.
"Good night," Erin mumbled absentmindedly, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.
The furrowed brow on her face now, a hint of darkness flashing beneath those eyes... "What's wrong?" he asked, flipping the slices of pork over.
Erin sighed heavily, her turn to worry about crap she shouldn't be worried about. She figured she had two options… lie or tell the truth. She decided on somewhere in the middle. "It's nothing you want to hear," she tiptoed.
"You're right," Kelly admitted. "But if you need me to hear you out, kick someone's ass... I'm available."
"Just worry about your bacon before you burn it." Talking about Jay Halstead with Kelly Severide was not happening. "What're we doin' today, husband?" asked Erin changing lanes quickly.
"I got some ideas," Kelly quipped with that sparkle in his eyes. "Did I mention, I could get used to you callin' me that?"
"You better get used to it." Gonna be a good day, thought Erin, grin on her face. Gonna be many good days, she hoped.
It was a typical back to work morning, Erin taking an extra long shower, Kelly joining her… "Conservin' water," he smiled hopping in.
"That's rich… a fireman conserving water?" She wasn't complaining. He grabbed her puff and squeezed a generous dollop of body wash on it. "Mmmmm, I love that," Erin moaned as Kelly rubbed her back, starting high, ending low.
When they emerged from the steam filled room, the rush was on. Getting to 51 used to be the thing he looked forward to, the only thing, thought Kelly watching his girl as she slipped on her uniform – T-shirt and jeans.
"What?" she asked mouth staying open slightly, knowing what he was thinking.
"Let's stay home, quit our jobs, and have twelve kids," Kelly laughed only half joking.
"Twelve? What an underachiever, Severide."
"Or maybe just three?"
"Just three?" Erin laughed nervously, knowing there was a nugget of truth in the joke. That was the nugget that scared her.
"Or we can start with one," Kelly said softly taking her in his arms, fingers twisting her hair, not realizing how much he wanted the words he said.
Erin laughed pulling away. "Let's get used to the whole married thing first, hero. Gotta run."
Kelly shook his head watching the beautiful detective race out the door. Cut and run. When you gonna let yourself relax, just be happy Erin, he thought. "Be safe!" he called out after her.
"Love you too!" she called back, wondering what the hell Kelly was laughing about, alone in their place.
"Halstead, Lindsay… in my office. Now!" Voight graveled out, throwing his door open so furiously it ricocheted off the wall and almost slammed shut again.
Party's over, thought Erin, smiling, the picture of calm entering the Voight storm.
"What's up?" she asked grabbing a chair to plop in. Jay remained standing, arms folded across his chest, holding up a wall.
"Where are we on the Mykola take down?" Hank asked expectantly.
"You told us to put it on hold," started Jay, confused with the sudden interest.
"Forget what I said! Stillwell is on my ass. Now, I'm on yours. Got it?" Voight took a step toward his young detective, not really mad at any member of his team, just mad at the situation. The pressure they were under.
"I'll reconnect with Oksana, get that ball rolling?" Erin got up not waiting for Hank's dismissal. She'd heard from a CI that the Russian woman had wiggled her tight skirt back into the Mykola good graces after Erin went MIA on the scene.
"Do that," Voight yelled after them. "I need something by the end of the day. Shut my door!"
"Let's give your girlfriend a call," mumbled Erin under her breath, grin on her face.
"I feel so violated. Is it too late to go to HR?" Jay retorted, head hung low, knowing the kitten paws of a certain Russian were coming. Coming soon.
"That was a helluva party, Shay," commented Mouch from his couch, watching TV and reading the paper intermittently. A buzz of agreement coming from the guys gathered in the common room.
"Well, thank you, thank you. It was all for this one," she commented, bumping Kelly with her body, the friends arriving at the same time as usual.
"You need to think about doin' that as a side job. Plannin' parties, weddings. You can make a killin'," suggested Hermann, conspiring with Cruz about his latest Molly's scheme, marketing the bar as a wedding reception destination.
"Ha, yeah right. I might have one more of those in me. Maybe for this one," Shay said shaking Casey's shoulders as he sat at the round table, paper in hand, "or this one's sister." Leslie grabbed Kelly's hand, raising it up a little.
The look on her friend's face made her add… "or maybe our favorite Marine might cowboy up and ask that detective to make an honest man out of him." Shay giggled.
Truck 81…Ambulance 61…Squad 3… Apartment fire…
Red shift said they'd take it, but Casey and Kelly waved 'em off. "You'd think we could at least get settled in," complained Mouch, rising slowly throwing his paper down on the coffee table.
"Looks like you've had time to set up camp on that couch," commented Mills under his breath, quiet the past couple of weeks. Kelly made a mental note to check up on his guy this shift.
Eyes scanning the scene, both lieutenants got that tightening in their guts… the silence in the truck before the storm.
Boden was barking out orders the second his guys hit the ground. "Casey, truck, let's get this one under control. Cruz, Mouch, vent the roof. Move!"
Kelly was yelling at Capp and the rest of his team about search and rescue before Boden boomed out his orders.
"We'll start on top!" called Severide to his truck counterpart.
"People are in there," yelled Casey over the noise of hoses, trucks moving, and ladders raising. "Just a feeling."
"Well let's go get 'em," Kelly grinned racing his crew into the three story structure, flames licking from the windows of every floor.
Boden didn't like the look of any of it, the puffs of smoke gathering behind the windows, blowing out every few minutes, like an old smoker savoring every last inhale. The flames shooting from the west side of the apartment, growing longer and more greedy with each passing second.
The meth lab explosion still fresh on Chief's mind, would always be there lingering like an old habit you broke but always threatening to make a reappearance. He still couldn't believe Newhouse was gone, Otis no longer with 51, but still a part of the family. That day would muddy his judgments for the rest of his life.
So many casualties pouring out of the inferno … Casey and his crew leading them out, an elderly couple the first to be rescued. Ten victims saved within twenty minutes, looking like a new record would be set before this one was all over.
Kelly and Mills were working side by side, moving fast, so fast. Severide almost didn't see her, but something made him give another look at the melting plastic playhouse in the corner of a small living room. He caught a glimpse of a tiny, pink Care Bear tennis shoe sticking out and ran to it, calling for Mills. He threw the plaything to the side revealing a little girl, face black, the heavy smoke marking her porcelain skin. Her thick curly hair matching her face in color … but it was that face that brought a tightness in their throats.
Kelly pushed on her delicate neck looking for a pulse, letting Pete take the lead on emergency triage. He thought he felt a weak pulsation, or maybe just his imagination, a futile hope. Severide scooped her up following Mills out of the building and into the waiting arms of Shay.
Russian paws were firmly planted on Jay sooner that even Voight anticipated. Oksana had too many days apart from what she hoped would become her future play thing and was more than ready for a meeting. Before Erin could enjoy her partner's discomfort too much, Mykola came to crash the party and get a little dimple action before heading off to the mother country for a six week visit. Voight suspected the trip included wrangling up a whole new batch of girls to be traded off to the highest sleazy bidder.
"Oh, my little delicate minx," purred the Russian mobster, breath heavy with the smell of vodka and cigars. They were back in a suite almost identical to the one from their last meet … a heavily stocked bar, and heavily stocked artillery positioned around the room. Each man looked like a genetically engineered fighting specimen of strong jaws, cropped hair, and chiseled muscles.
Erin's jaw clamped down so tight, Jay thought she may have cracked a molar. It took everything in her power to not show him just how "delicate" she was. Her tight leather skirt had done the trick and the Russian was practically on her lap, or trying to get in it all night long.
The night became a mix of fast rolling deals with talk shifting from drugs, to guns, to girls, and back to drugs again. After months of not getting anywhere with these two, they were going all the way on this night.
"Let's get in there. Quiet approach, then go heavy flashing the metal. Those Ruskies don't bullshit," Voight commanded knowing he finally had what he needed. Sometimes you needed to back away to finally pull in the big fish. That fish was being reeled in right now.
"Yeah, I think I heard Halstead's rape whistle going off," joked Ruzek, cracking himself up.
"When I need your opinion on something, I'll let you know. Got it?" yelled Hank getting in his young cop's face. Ruzek nodded unable to breathe.
"Let's roll."
Erin knew the cavalry was coming soon … now time to try and position herself and her partner out of the line of any fire that might come. Voight would bring the thunder, she just hoped the Russians would back down.
As if on cue, Voight broke down the door, everything going according to plan. The muscle in the room threw down their weapons, seeing the firepower the cops were brandishing. Olinsky and Antonio right behind Hank, guns pointed at the adversaries in the room.
Now, just arrest the top Russian dog and call it a night.
One tiny detail Voight hadn't counted on, Mykola was not a man going down without a fight. He grabbed Erin around the neck so quickly she had no time to respond, not expecting this from the man who was professing love in the previous breath. He had her in an ever constricting grip, gun now pressed against her temple. She lifted her hands, finally bringing them to Mykola's arm in an effort to loosen his hold. Her deep breaths, an attempt to keep the fear at bay. She wasn't accustomed to that fear, hated it.
Jay felt the same panic, his brain searching for some out. Some move. He was standing a few feet to the left of Erin, the bar separating him and Oksana. How could he make it to the small cop without Mykola pulling the trigger. There was no way.
Mykola hadn't made the Erin CPD connection, still thinking she was the unlucky beautiful thing caught up in all this. He also knew the Chicago cops were suckers for a damsel in distress … there was no way they would sacrifice an innocent young woman to bring him down. Mykola was counting on that.
Voight stared at the Russian, measuring him up and down, trying to predict his next move. He saw how this could end, and he didn't like the little picture forming in his brain.
Kelly rode with Shay in the ambo, the tiny grip on his hand never letting up. The little girl, maybe two, had latched on somewhere between floors two and one and showed no sign of releasing. It was stupid, but he decided if he broke the seal, he would cut the weak connection with life she was clinging to.
Two doctors rushed over getting her vitals from Shay, prying the teeny fingers from Kelly's dirty hand.
"Let's hang out a while," offered Leslie, replacing the little hand that had been in Severide's.
"You don't mind?" he asked not wanting to leave. They'd checked on victims many times, some just connected for an unknown reason, some you couldn't let go of.
"I'm gonna check on the mom. Why don't you go wash up? I'll be right back," Shay headed to the nurses' station to see how the twenty something mom had fared, if they'd reached the dad yet. Capp had carried mom out unresponsive, smoke filling her lungs.
Kelly washed his hands and face twice, the cold water feeling like a little bit of heaven. Full on shower was what he longed for, but this would do for now. Shay was waiting for him when he returned to the waiting area … the little one was critical, mom the same, dad en route to the hospital, shift at Ford tragically cut short by a call no one ever wants to get.
The scene playing out in Halstead's mind was growing uglier by the second, one where Erin didn't make it out alive. That was not an option. He watched as Voight lowered his weapon at Mykola's command … his brain screaming, no, no, no! Olinsky and Dawson dropped their weapons following Voight's lead.
"Get them out! Now!" yelled the Russian, nodding toward Alvin and Antonio. Both men backed up, not waiting for Voight's command. They saw the gun pressing into Erin's head, the arm squeezing the life out of her.
Jay moved past the bar, gripping Oksana's hand, feigning innocence. He knew the only shot they had at disarming the Russian mobster was him still being trusted. "We got the upper hand. Let's move," he said to Mykola. "You can let go of her now. They got no play," he tried again, seeing the mobster wasn't lessening his choke hold.
"I'm sure this little man has another weapon on him. Somewhere," he said looking at Hank's boot. "I think I will keep this one right where I have her," he laughed, moving to the door half dragging Erin. "Go to the couch!" he screamed at Voight, Erin feeling the last pockets of air leaving her lungs.
Hank gave Jay a look, he needed the younger man to move soon. Erin's lips were turning blue, her eyes starting to close.
"You're killin' her!" yelled Voight unable to hold his tongue. This was the closest thing he had to a daughter, really more than blood, and he was powerless to stop the life from leaving her body.
"Shut up, old man," yelled Jay playing his role as a Russian ally as if his life depended on it. He sure as hell knew Erin's did. "Let's get outta here," Halstead pushed in front of Oksana narrowing the distance between him and Erin. They shuffled to the elevator, Mykola finally releasing his prey once inside. Erin fell to the floor gasping for breath, her eyes rolling back in her head, her body threatening to lose consciousness. Jay was on her… "Breathe, just breathe."
"Why the hell'd you do that?" he was up in Mykola's face, the gun now pressed into his chest. He realized they had about two minutes before the elevator doors opened and Erin would be back in that hold. There's no way she could take any more. Halstead knew he had to act.
"She's fine. Back up or you both will not be fine."
Jay moved so quickly Oksana didn't know what was happening until it was too late. Halstead grabbed the gun, now both men trying to take claim. It pointed in the direction of the Russian woman. Jay felt it kick when Mykola pulled the trigger, hearing the piercing scream in the confines of the small space. One down.
He slammed his elbow into the older Russian's face as the gun pointed upward now, going off again, shooting out the fluorescent lights overhead. Eyes adjusting quickly, Jay could see Erin trying to get up, the glow from the buttons preventing total darkness. "Stay down!" he yelled, wanting her to make herself even smaller, the smallest target possible.
Mykola was a fighter, age and experience helping him in these close quarters. The gun turned one way then another. Jay made a final rush at the mobster, throwing his body square into the older, heavier man's. It was just enough… Mykola's grip loosened with Jay ripping the gun from his hands. He turned the weapon on the Russian just as the doors to elevator opened letting in a rush of light and a rush of relief from the cops on the other side.
Kelly and Shay trudged out of the hospital, no good news on their little girl, shift cut short by Boden. He'd called in another team, knowing his guys had nothing left.
"Let's go back tomorrow," suggested Shay putting her hand in Kelly's.
"Yeah, it makes no sense but it kinda felt like if I broke her grip… you know?" Severide brought Leslie's hand to his lips giving it a quick peck.
"I know. We'll check on her tomorrow. I have a good feeling about her, the mom…" Shay cut off by the look on her best friend's face.
Kelly felt several buzzes of his phone… apparently no service up in the waiting area. Now a rush of texts and voice mails coming in.
Yes, I'm leaving it there. Haha! I'll update soon, promise. Leave me your thoughts; they do put me in a giving mood.
Before I forget, a special thanks to those who don't have an account - guests, EK, TKFan, Aryal, and Jackie - your words and passion cut right to my heart. Thank you! To my usuals - you know I love and adore you!