Antonio stormed out of Voight's office slamming the door behind him and ran down the stairs, ignoring Adam hollering after him. He was pissed he had specifically asked not to be assigned out to any other units without his permission but Voight said it came from higher up, they needed someone who had contact with this gang previously and it was their final decision, he couldn't fight it.
Sylvie had just gone back to work; she was so excited to finally be back at the firehouse. She had been off work for nine months and she was eager to get back to doing what she loved. Of course she loved being with Sophia but she never envisioned being a stay at home mom, she needed to be busy and feel like she was doing good in the world and being a paramedic fulfilled that for her.
Antonio pulled up to the firehouse, seeing the ambulance he felt relieved he wouldn't have to wait around for her. "Hey, bro is Sylvie around?" he asked Matt who was running drills with the truck guys on the apparatus floor. "Umm..yeah I think her and Gabby are back in the bunk room, you can head on in and check," he said sharing a fist bump with him.
Sylvie saw Antonio and was surprised. "Tonio, what are you doing here?" she walked toward him giving him a hug. She noted he looked pissed and hugged him a little tighter. "Is there somewhere we can talk for a minute?" she nodded and motioned for Kelly's bunk knowing he wouldn't mind. "Hey sister here, what I get no love?" she was joking with him. "Hey sis, sorry, it's important." He kissed her on the cheek and went toward the room shutting the door as soon as him and Sylvie stepped in.
Sylvie set on the bed just staring at him waiting for him to start but he was nervous, this was the first time he was doing this to her and he didn't know how she was going to react. "They're putting me deep under, no contact" he spread his arms open and sighed. "For how long?" she was careful not to show any emotion knowing this was hard for him.
"It's long, at least six weeks, maybe longer they said." He sat down on the bed next to her. "We'll just have to figure it out." She tried to sound supportive. "I didn't have a choice, chief asked for me personally because I have history with this gang from back when I was in vice. I'm going under in the morning before you get off shift, I'm sorry." He kept his eyes firmly glued to the ground not wanting to see the disappointment in her eyes.
"Look at me." She said and he pulled his eyes up to meet hers. "I'm okay, I'll figure it out, I'll just need help with the nights I'm on shift, your mom already does days." He nodded at her. "But you shouldn't have to just figure it out on your own and who could possibly help anyway? Everyone we know works the same shift as you or is on call in my unit." She grabbed his hand and squeezed, she had an idea.
"I'm going to say a name and I need you to think rationally and not emotionally before you answer okay?" he was certain he wasn't going to like this but nodded. "Laura" was all she said and he just looked at her like she had lost her damn mind. "Rationally, okay?" she was nodding trying to get him to agree.
"I don't know, that's a little crazy babe" he was conflicted and didn't know how to react. "We had Christmas together before we moved and we've been out to dinner with her and the kids multiple times, and her and I text. I think she might agree and it would work." She was trying to convince him and maybe herself a little too.
Sylvie had surprised them with Christmas, right after they had their family meeting about Laura. He was uncomfortable the whole time but tried to make the best of it. The kids had seemed to enjoy themselves and Laura was on her best behavior.
He locked his fingers behind his head and put his head between his legs exhaling loudly, he clearly wasn't comfortable with this idea but he couldn't see any other options at the moment.
"Listen, I'll call her and work it out, you don't have to be involved at all, it'll be alright, I promise." She rubbed his back and kissed him on the head.
"I'm going to miss you, you won't hear from me the entire time but Voight will send updates with Burgess once a week. Okay?" he was standing now looking down at her.
The bells went off, calling for Ambo 61. "I'm going to miss you too but we'll talk tonight and in the morning before you go, love you." She kissed him and ran for the ambulance with Gabby.
Sylvie was quiet on the Ambo ride to the call just staring out the window; Gabby noted that she looked upset. "What's going on? You look like someone stole your puppy." She joked.
"They did" she said and kept staring out the window. "What? You don't have a puppy." Gabby was confused.
Sylvie sighed loudly, "They're putting Tonio deep under for at least six weeks in the morning." Gabby's eyes got big, "They haven't put him under for that long in a long time. I'm sorry, are you okay?" she was concerned for her friend.
"It's okay, I'm good, I think it will really test how strong we are though." She was hoping they passed that test with flying colors. "I'm going to ask Laura to help with Sophia on shift nights." Gabby spun her head to look at her like she was crazy. "Are you sure about that? That's a little out there you know that right?"
Sylvie laughed, "I know but she is better now, we've been getting along, we talk about the kids, I really think she's in a good place. And even you told me once she was a good mom, I'm sure she would be just fine with Sophia. I do think Tonio thought I lost my mind when I suggested it though." She smiled over at Gabby.
"I guess you have to do what feels right for you, you're the one who's stuck, hopefully it works out but just in case do you have a backup plan?" Gabby was hoping she did knowing the past couple years Laura could be unpredictable.
Sylvie nodded, "Cindy but she gets stuck with everyone's kids, I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage too, you know." She really loved Cindy and knew she would watch Sophia but any given night she was stuck with one or two extra kids, she didn't have it in her heart to do it to her also. She really just hoped his whole thing worked out and was over with as quickly as possible.
It had been three weeks since Antonio went under and Sylvie had only received two updates, both stating only that he was doing fine, no other explanation, it frustrated her but she kept her head up and tried to be happy for the kids. Much to Sylvie's relief, Laura agreed to watch Sophia on shift nights and had suggested she would be more comfortable doing at their house, where all Sophia's stuff was and she would be able to see Diego and Eva too, Sylvie preferred that idea so Sophia would be bounced around as much.
It was odd for Laura to be in her ex-husband's and his wife's home babysitting their child, and sleeping on their couch. Sylvie had insisted she could sleep in their bed but she just couldn't, it was too surreal. But she got to spend time with her kids and Sophia truly was the easiest baby she had ever dealt with. She never cried, she would fuss but other than that she was happy and content just playing on her mat with her toys or being held. Eva and Diego tried to schedule their life around her being there but they were teenagers and had lives of the own so they were gone a lot with friends. She was left alone most of the time with Sophia.
"Hey, Soph how bout we go lay down and go night-night so you can see mommy in the morning huh? Does that sound good?" It was just after nine and Laura was walking up the stairs to put Sophia down when she noticed the flashing lights. She moved back down the stairs to check out the window when someone knocked on the door. She answered it and two patrolmen stood in front of her.
"Mrs. Dawson?" she was confused. "I'm one of them yeah, which one do you need?" the officers exchanged a look. "Sylvie Dawson, is she here? We need to take her and her children into protective custody." Laura's heart began to race. "Is something wrong with Antonio?" she needed to focus. "I'm Laura, his ex-wife, Sylvie's on shift at firehouse 51, I'm babysitting, our other kids are out." She was starting to panic.
One of the patrolmen turned around and walked out of her earshot and started talking into his radio. "Do you mind if I come in while we wait for you to get the kids locations?" she ushered him inside and picked up her cell phone and tried to call each kid but it went to voicemail, not surprising. She texted them 911 and they both texted immediately where they were, she thanked the lord they had good kids.
"What's going on? Please tell me." She was begging the patrolman but he wouldn't budge, she doubted he even knew. "Can you please go get some stuff together for the children?" she moved to head up stairs with Sophia only taking a couple of minutes for each kid and heading back down.
The second patrolman walked inside and whispered to the first, he looked over at Laura. "They've picked up Mrs. Dawson from 51 and picked up the girl. An officer should be to the boy in a couple of minutes. Now you said this is their child also?" he said pointing at Sophia. "Yes, the other two are mine and Antonio's, can you please tell me what's going on?" she was frustrated and scared.
"They've requested we pick you up also. Can you place the baby in her car seat so we can get you guys down to the district?" he was clearly ignoring her questions. She did what they asked and hoped she would find out what was going on soon. She knew it must have been bad because not once had her or the kids ever been taken into protective custody before.
Laura walked into the bullpen carrying Sophia in her arms, a patrolman behind her carrying their stuff. She spotted Sylvie and made a beeline for her handing Sophia off. "What is going on? Do you know?" she asked but Sylvie looked more confused and freaked out then she did. Diego and Eva arrived at the same time both running for the two women. Diego wrapped his arms around Sylvie and Eva around her mom and just hung on. They didn't know what to do and no one was up in the bullpen with them except two patrolmen.
"Where's Intelligence, will they be back soon?" Sylvie was questioning. "We don't know ma'am, we had instructions to pick you up, bring you here, and stay with you. That's all we have, there's snacks in the kitchen if you want." He offered.
Sylvie heard the door at the end of the hallway open and saw Voight walk through the door with the rest of the unit behind him. He went straight in for a hug from Sylvie and asked her to follow him to his office. She handed Sophia off to Adam, who gladly took her and followed Hank and he shut the door behind her.
"I know you have a lot of questions and I'm gonna tell you right now, we don't have a lot of answers." He was staring at her and she just nodded. "I need you to know that you guys are in the safest place in the city and we are doing everything we can so I need you not to panic when I tell you what happened. And I need you to keep this in house, I can't risk anyone else knowing, not Gabby or anyone. Can you do that?" he was standing right in front of her ready to catch her if she collapsed.
"Come on, will you just tell me?" she was so anxious, her chest was pounding. "We know Antonio was shot, we don't know how bad" she gasped. "And he's missing, his wire went dead just after seven and our other undercover hasn't been able to get eyes on him. He was made and they figured out who he is and they know about you guys." He pointed toward the kitchen.
Sylvie was crying, she was sure this was a nightmare, she heard screaming from somewhere, it sounded like her own voice but she couldn't tell, she couldn't think straight, she knew she needed out of Voight's office, out of the building, she turned to leave when she felt arms grab her from behind. "Let me go" she was fighting him, she needed out, this wasn't happening.
"Sylvie, I need you to calm down, listen to me, if you go out there like this you're gonna scare the kids, they don't need to be scared right now. They need to know they're safe. Do you understand?" she kept fighting against him, he pulled her into a tight hug and just held her until she was done sobbing.
She kept crying, the world not making any sense. She heard Voight speak, her head still pressed against his chest. "I promise I'll get him back, you have my word" she sniffled. "You better" She was starting to calm down. She knew Voight was good for his word but knowing Antonio was hurt out there somewhere killed her.
Hank finally let her go and looked her in the face wiping her tears away. "You good?" she nodded and he opened the door for her. She went to find the kids and Laura; they apparently had been moved to the vending machine room down the hall so they didn't hear her outburst. She made eye contact with Laura and just shook her head letting her know it was bad, she hugged her "I'll explain when the kids aren't around, we're not leaving for a while, it's bad." Laura nodded accepting the explanation. "Where's Adam and Sophia?" she knew Adam wouldn't give Sophia up if he didn't absolutely have to. "I think in the locker room." Laura stated.
Sylvie made her way across the hall and into the locker room. Adam wasn't there so she went back toward the bullpen and found him sitting on his desk holding Sophia talking to her. She walked over to him and just wrapped her self around his middle and Sophia, she felt safe there. He held on to her tight and just let her hug him. "It'll be okay, we're gonna find him." Adam was rubbing his hand up and down her back.
Kim made a choice in that moment and walked over to them and wrapped her arms around Sylvie and Sophia. She looked at Adam and just nodded. He kissed all three of them on the top of the head. "Look, we're all family and we don't leave family behind, he will come home, I promise." And he just kept holding them. The rest of Intelligence just watched, they were at a loss for words, what do you say to the family of a cop who is missing and injured?
"Let's roll out now!" Voight came out of his office in a hurry. "We got a tip, we need to act fast. Burgess stay here." She stood up straight "Yeah, boss." Adam handed Sophia off to Sylvie and kissed Kim before running down the hall.
"Well I guess that's out now." Sylvie tried to break the tension, Kim just her head, and gave a weak smile. "You don't have to do that." Sylvie just looked at her. "I know your dying inside, it's okay, don't worry about me, have you told Laura?" Kim asked knowing she hadn't. Sylvie shook her head "I don't want to in front of the kids."
"Then I'll go get her and stay with the kids down the hall" Kim to Sophia and waked toward the hallway.
Sylvie had sat down at Antonio desk and was looking at the pictures of her and the kids, Al, and Jules. She picked up the picture of Jules and was looking at it, she had never met her, she died before she ever moved here but he talked about her a lot. He said Kim reminded him of her and that's why he loved Kim so much. She didn't hear Laura walk up behind her. "She was great, I loved her and her kids, her husband moved after she died and I haven't seen them in years." Sylvie jumped startled by Laura. "His partner now, Kim, is one my best friends, I get it. Kim's the best, I know he's safe with her, he says she reminds him of her." She smiled putting the picture back down on the desk.
"So what did Voight say?" Laura was worried. Sylvie was willing herself not to cry again, "They know Antonio was shot, they don't know how bad the injury is. Voight said his wire went dead around seven and they know he was made and that they know who he is and who we are. He's missing and hurt and they haven't been able to find him." Laura pulled up a chair and just sat there shocked.
It was almost two in the morning, Eva was asleep on the couch in the kitchen with Sophia tucked in between her and the back of the couch, Diego was asleep at Kim's desk. The women were just talking amongst themselves, trying to pass time without actually discussing what was happening and trying to keep themselves awake.
They could hear someone running up the stairs, they all looked in that direction and Hailey and Jay came running in. "Kim, Voight said stay here with the kids and Laura, Sylvie you come with us." Hailey smiled at Kim. "We got him extracted, he's on his way to Med, condition unknown." Kim let out a long breath, relieved that he was out. "Is he alive?" Sylvie needed to know before she moved. Hailey nodded her head "Yeah, he was when they pulled him out but we gotta go."
Sylvie stood and hugged Kim quickly and took off down the stairs with Hailey and Jay,
"Can we call Gabby yet? She has to be worried sick after I was picked up, she's not stupid, she'll know it's because of Antonio and she'll be pissed." She asked when they made it to the car. She needed to call her; she had to be going out of her mind.
"Wait until we get the clear from Voight. Gabby's tough, she'll be fine, I would know I used to date her." Jay smiled back at her. Hailey just looked over at him, this whole damn unit was connected in someway or another she thought, she was definitely the odd man out here.
They arrived at the hospital and Hailey and Jay escorted Sylvie in. They found the rest of the team and Adam wrapped Sylvie in a hug. Sylvie turned in his arms to face Voight, Adam keeping his arms around her. "Where is he? I need to see him." she tried to keep calm but knowing he was hurt, she just needed to get to him.
"He's in the Emergency Department, they're assessing him, and I haven't even been able to see him. I know he was shot in his shoulder and he was beaten pretty badly but he's alive and responsive." Sylvie started to cry and Adam hugged her more tightly.
"Can I call Gabby now please, his family needs to know." Hank thought about it for a minute before answering her. "Yeah, I think that would be fine now but she can't come in here all full of piss and vinegar, make sure she knows that, I did what I needed to get him back safe, plain and simple."
Gabby arrived within an hour, Sylvie had warned her what Voight said and in typical Gabby fashion she didn't care. She remained calm but shot ugly looks at him whenever she could. "I'm going to find a nurse to see if we can go back" Gabby stood just as Dr. Halstead walked in.
"He's alert and he's talking, he was shot in the right shoulder, a through and through, no major damage, no surgery, he has a concussion, three broken ribs, contusions everywhere, a broken wrist and hand, and a fractured eye socket but he's going to be okay." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and started cheering. "He's asking for Sylvie" she stepped forward and he motioned for her to follow him. "He looks rough, it might shock you but it looks worse than it actually is, he refusing any pain meds until he sees you." She nodded, just following him silently, relieved he was even alive.
They arrived at the room; she was scared to go in. She took a deep breath and stepped through the door. He was lying there and he looked so broken, tears began to run down her face. "Hey baby come here, it's okay" he opened his arms wanting her to give him a hug. She moved towards him but stopped just shy of the side of the bed.
"I don't want to hurt you" she could see he was covered in bruises. "You could never hurt me, you're what fixes me." She gently leaned down and buried her face in his neck and just cried. He wrapped his good arm around her the best he could and just held on to her.
She pulled back and kissed him on the lips gently and just stared at him. "I thought you were dead." She said gently. "So did I." he admitted. "They have all of us in protective custody, the kids are at the district with Laura and Kim and Gabby is in the waiting room." He was relieved, he was told that they were going to kill them and he believed them.
"I'm glad you're all safe, I'm so sorry, this should have never happened." He was getting upset. Sylvie was shushing him, "It's not you're fault, it's just part of the job, it's all okay, and we're okay. Why don't you try to sleep?" she didn't want him any more upset than he already was. She called the nurse and asked for his pain meds and the nurse returned with IV pain meds and hooked it up. He was out in no time.
The lights flashed on and Sylvie blinked covering her eyes, it was too bright, she must have fallen asleep. All of a sudden Voight was in her face pulling her up by her arm. "Sylvie, we need to move him and you to a secure room, there's been a hit ordered." She was confused, "What do you mean, where are the kids?" she was trying to pull her mind back together, she glanced at the clock, it was around seven in the morning.
"We moved everyone else to a safe house, Gabby, the kids, Laura, and his parents, they're all fine. Ruzek and Burgess are with them and we have three patrol cars sitting on the house." He filled her in, moving her towards the door while two nurses worked on moving Antonio behind them. She stepped out the door and was immediately surrounded by five cops and Platt. She gasped surprised by everyone and Platt wrapped her arm around her shoulders and guided her.
"It will be okay, just breathe, intelligence is working on it." Platt whispered in her ear. Sylvie just nodded, it was way too much and she was too drained. "They sedated him, to keep him calm." Platt was trying to fill her in on what was going on. Sylvie glanced back at him noticing he was still asleep. "Why?" she wanted to know.
Platt chuckled, "He has a tendency to overreact and is less than cooperative when he's confined to a hospital bed and is told he can't help, he thinks he's superman. I forget you haven't seen him like this." Sylvie shook her head, she had know idea how he acted when he was hurt but she knew he was stubborn though.
Sylvie felt like she had been trapped in that tiny hospital room for weeks, realistically it was a little under forty-eight hours. She was climbing the walls and Antonio was driving her insane, he wouldn't stay in bed and he complained constantly about not being included on the case. "If you don't stay in bed, I'm going to have them tie you down." She felt like she was scolding him every five minutes.
"Well if they would answer they're damn phones and tell me what the fuck is going on, I wouldn't be this anxious now would I?" he was frustrated and couldn't set still. "Besides my legs aren't broken, just my hand and shoulder" he held up his hand and sighed. "Left hand and right shoulder, I'm useless." he pouted and plopped down in the chair and wincing, he had forgotten he had broken ribs. "Mother fucker!" Sylvie giggled at him and he glared at her.
"I thought being away from you for six weeks would be a good test for our marriage but really being trapped in a small room with you for days will be the real test, I'm beginning to think we'll be lucky if we survive this." She smirked at him.
"Real funny, you're never leaving me, you're too obsessed with me. I seem to recall a persistent Brett ambushing me at the bar after I told her no about hanging out and then her showing up at my door one night in an overcoat and boots. You chased me, remember." He smiled at her. She laughed, "Well, if you would have never hit on me in the first place, I wouldn't have come after you, so you started it, it's not my fault I like a challenge and I like to win." She walked over to him and leaned down and kissed him. "I think we both won." He grinned.
There was a knock at the door and Voight entered. "Where the fuck have you been? You haven't answered my calls or texts and neither has anyone else since yesterday!" Antonio was pissed; he was trying and failing to stand up to confront Voight.
Voight raised his hands, "Hey calm down, we were getting close, we didn't have time to stop and make sure you were up-to-date on every aspect of the case." He was agitated with him but trying to his cool. "And it's over anyway, threat's gone."
"We can go home, are you sure it's safe?" Sylvie asked ignoring Antonio complaining next to her. Hank shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded, "Yeah, patrol has already taken everyone home, the kids are at Gabby and Casey's." Sylvie walked over to hug him, grateful that she would finally be able to see her daughter again, they had Facetime'd but it wasn't the same.
"Thank you for keeping your promise." She stated as she placed a kiss on his cheek. "We're family, I protect my family, always" he smiled at her.
"Antonio, we'll debrief you later and fill you in on everything we know. Now, I need you to stop driving her crazy because I know you are and just be thankful she hasn't come to her senses and left you yet and go home and get some rest." Voight laughed, he knew exactly how Antonio was when he couldn't do what he wanted. "And I don't want to hear anything about you trying to come back before you are completely healed, do I make my self clear?" he gave Antonio a look that let him know he wasn't kidding.
Antonio had managed to stand and walked toward Voight and did the best he could to hug him. "I know I'm a pain in the ass but thanks for getting me out alive and making sure Sylvie and the kids were safe. I know you always say we owe you nothing but we do, everyone of us owe you everything."