A/N: Sorry for the delay. I burned myself out pretty quickly with rapid updates and needed a little while to take a breather, but the story is still alive. I'm not going to update as often as I would like or have in the past. Every other Saturday is the goal, and I have no plans to kill/end Gabby and Matt's story any time soon. Enjoy!

August 2014

Tensions had died down slowly to the point where Gabby and Matt were coexisting. Not interacting, not seeing each other more than necessary, but they still lived under the same roof. They had to deal with this in their own ways. Gabby didn't talk to many people at work or outside of it. It was times like this where she wished Mills was there. They always had a good conversation when things were tough. Matt, on the other hand, picked up so many extra shifts she actually wondered if he ever slept. Plus, they weren't all at 51. He was bouncing from house to house after each shift. He barely went back to the apartment anymore, and when he did, it was when Gabby wasn't home.

She wasn't sure what she was going to do at that point, feeling like there was no where to go with this. Either they worked things out or they didn't, but this avoidance couldn't continue anymore. She couldn't handle it anymore.

"Matt," she said, opening the door to his study on one of the few days he was actually home. "We need to talk." He looked up from his paperwork and nodded, motioning her to come in. She took the invitation, sitting on the couch. She glanced at him then down at her feet.

"I miss you," she admitted. "And we both made mistakes, but we can't keep doing this." He nodded as he turned to face her. "Either we fix us, or we're done." She hated giving him an ultimatum, it wasn't something they'd ever done before, but she knew she had to.

"Do you remember right after we lost Jimmy Cooper about two months into our tour? This is a repeat of that. You turned to someone else, and I turned to my leading. Exactly the same. How did we get through that?" he asked. She knew exactly what he was talking about, and she didn't know the answer. She just remembered things falling back into place.

"I don't know," she told him. "We just found a good middle-ground I guess. So, let's do that again." He nodded and took her hands in his.

"So, here's what we should do," he told her with a big sigh. "Sleep in the same room, don't distance ourselves, talk about our days together, and eat together. We don't have to do everything, like you can go out with Shay or whoever, and I can do the same. When we need space, we'll tell each other instead of pulling away." She nodded with a smile before kissing him gently.

"Want me to order dinner?" she asked him. "What sounds good?" He looked at her still smiling.

"Thai sounds good to me." She nodded, and stood. When she got to the doorway, she turned back. He'd already turned away from her and back to his paperwork. She hoped this plan would work, hoped things would get back to normal. Gabby was ready for things to be back to normal.

The next day, Gabby woke up curled into Matt. A smile spread across her face as she stayed, unmoving to savor this moment. For the first time in almost two months, they were in the same bed. They were curled into each other, and it felt like home.

She stood, getting ready for work a little early so he could sleep a little longer. When she was finished was when he finally got up. He looked panicked at first, since Gabby was already done getting ready, but when he looked at the time he sighed and she chuckled. She waited for him to get ready, making sure their bags were all set for the upcoming shift.

"Let's go," he told her. She'd been sitting on the couch and had zoned out for most of the time. He smiled as she stood up, and they walked out together. When they got to station, Shay looked at them with a smile. They put their bags in the lockers and went to sit out at the common room table.

"Things better, I assume," Kelly said to them. They looked at each other, then back to him with smiles on their faces.

"It's starting to. That's what matters." After she answered, the tones dropped.

"Engine 51, Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61, Battalion 25. Structure fire, Pershing and Central." Everyone got themselves ready as they went to their vehicles. Gabby looked at Shay when they got into the ambulance with a smile.

"We have a plan to help smooth things out. Neither of us are ready to give up," she told Shay. "And I gave the ultimatum, and he still chose me. Most of the plan was him anyway, so…" Shay took Gabby's hand in her own with a smile.

"Good," she replied. Shay parked the ambulance behind 81, and the two paramedics got out and prepared for those who were pouring out of the building. It looked to be an apartment building - the worst of them all in her opinion. There were so many places people could be and too many rooms for them to search. This apartment building was four stories, five apartments per floor. A minimum of twenty residents, but most likely more.

"Casey, you guys take the top two, we'll take the bottom two," Severide told Matt.

"Got it. Herrmann, you're with me. Cruz and Mouch, take the third floor." They all masked up, and Gabby started the waiting game. She kept busy with treating those who had managed to get out in time. She kept her mind off Casey in that building, and that was the best she could do. It didn't stop the anxiety, the turning of head every time someone came out. But preoccupying herself dulled those reactions.

They'd called other ambulances to transport victims, two already come and others still on their way when Chief radioed for them to pull out. What seemed like hours had been less than ten minutes - those two ambulances having already been in the area when the fire had started. She stared at the building, waited for him to come out. She saw Severide and his men come out, saw Cruz and Mouch come out. Those seconds waiting was torture for her, and what happened next was even worse. Herrmann's voice over the radio with the sound of a PASS alarm in the distance and over the radio.

"Chief," he coughed. "We're trapped in the back southwest corner of the first floor. Floor fell through, I don't have a visual on Casey." Boden signalled for Squad to go in and retrieve them, and Gabby grabbed the cot and backboard, running up closer to the doors to help whoever came out injured. She knew it was Casey, it wouldn't have been Herrmann's PASS if he was talking.

She waited, Shay next to her with hand on her shoulder as the silhouettes of the men became visible in the doorway. One body was being carried by arms and legs, the other slouched with the aid of two others, but walking. They exited and laid the unmoving body on the cot. Shay peeled the jacket off and Severide pulled the helmet and breathing aparatus off to show Casey's bloody face.

Two months ago he was almost dead and here he was again. It was too soon for her. Things were just getting back on track. He had just gotten back to work. She didn't understand how they'd gotten dealt these cards for a second time. It was as if fate had decided their struggles weren't real enough anymore.

She took vitals, she got the heart monitor on, and Shay had gotten the oxygen going all before they got back to the ambulance. She loaded him into the ambulance, Severide getting in the back with her and Shay driving. She went through it in her mind. He'd fallen three stories in blazing heat and almost definitely had a head injury.

She went through the Glascow-Coma scale. He was posturing, grunting, and not opening his eyes. It didn't look good at all. She didn't think things could get worse until he started seizing. It was terrifying for her. She looked at Severide, tears in her eyes and she could tell he wasn't holding it together very well.

"Not now, not like this," she practically begged, trying to get an IV in with no luck. While trying to get everything else accounted for, an IV never crossed her mind and now it was the one thing that could help in that situation. If things went bad, she knew it would have been her fault.